The children started shouting and waving their hands in their seats, hoping that the pretty new transfer student would sit next to them.
But after introducing herself, Ai walked off the podium and headed straight for the last row of the classroom.
There was a dark-haired boy sitting quietly amidst the noise, as if it were none of his business.
However, her overly tense sitting posture and the pen she had been holding since she entered the classroom seemed to reveal something.
"Fool……"
Xiao Ai chuckled and squeezed out a complaint through gritted teeth, then pulled out a chair without saying another word and sat down in the seat next to him.
"Hello, classmate, I'm Ai Haibara." She deliberately extended a hand awkwardly, repeating her self-introduction from earlier.
The boy seemed to blink just as he remembered, and after a moment, he took her hand.
"Distant mountains govern from afar."
The imagined scenario, such as being so surprised that I stammered and couldn't speak, didn't happen.
Xiao Ai snorted and turned her head away.
The classroom gradually returned to calm.
It wasn't until halfway through the class that Ai, who was not paying attention, heard a laughing voice in her ear.
"Eileen? Eileen Adler, Scandal in Bohemia?"
Ai snorted again, this time without even turning her head.
"That's right, the woman who even the great detective couldn't handle, are you scared now?"
“But I’m not a detective either…” the other person replied.
This time, Ai could perfectly imagine the sinister smile on that seemingly innocent face.
Without realizing it, she herself started to laugh.
Leaning back in his chair, he quietly lowered his hand and took the other person's hand under the table.
“Isn’t that perfect?” she said.
"While the detectives are away, Mr. Gao Yuan, shall we stir up some trouble?"
"After all, we still have a very, very long life ahead of us!"
...
As is well known, every time traveler will change the world they travel to to some extent.
But there are some things that cannot be changed no matter what.
For example...
Hajime-chan's academic performance.
Holding his exam paper, now covered in red marks, Kindaichi walked dejectedly down the street, completely unresponsive to Miyuki's nagging. He seemed to have evolved into a complete couch potato.
It wasn't until I walked to the former site of the Owl Cafe that I suddenly realized what it was all about.
"No, really? It's really closed?"
Closing the store was inevitable, because Yoruichi Toyama, who took over the store from Takato, is no longer alive.
Kindaichi and Miyuki, who had never been able to delve into the core of the police's secrets, were naturally unaware of the truth.
All that is known is that Miss Mingmei has been traveling far and wide since then and has not returned.
The thought of not having iced coffee to soothe his wounded heart made Kindaichi even more dejected.
"It's over, I can't survive, I can't survive even a little bit..."
Ignoring Meixue's advice, he collapsed on the steps by the door, looking like a deflated frog being sold.
"Hajime-chan! Get up!"
"You failed your test because the coffee shop closed down, right? It's because you didn't study hard enough!"
"If you keep doing this, I'm not going to take care of you anymore, you'll go to tutoring class by yourself!"
"My ambition is to become a flight attendant, so I must get into a good university."
Faced with her childhood friend who was giving up, Miyuki stood with her hands on her hips, looking like she was about to issue an ultimatum.
Kindaichi paused for a moment, then jumped up with a "whoa!"
"What? Miyuki, you want to be a flight attendant?"
"That won't do! There are lots of lecherous old men on the plane who will take advantage of you!"
"I absolutely won't allow it! I... I have to protect you!..."
"How about I become a flight attendant... or maybe I should learn to fly a plane? I can start practicing with the toy planes at the amusement park..."
Those familiar with Hajimejang know that he has never fulfilled his resolutions when it comes to studying.
Instead, he dragged Miyuki along under the pretext of "practicing flying a plane" and spent a day having fun at the amusement park.
"Hey, there's a haunted house over there! Miyuki, let's go quick!"
Because he was bad at every ride along the way but loved to ride them, he ended up being so scared by the terrifying noises that they pierced his brain. Miyuki, who had been suffering greatly, had exhausted her last bit of patience.
"I... well, I won't go..."
"I'm terrified of ghosts!"
Hearing his childhood friend say this, Kindaichi didn't try to get her to come along anymore. Instead, he bought a ticket and went inside by himself.
He only realized something was wrong when it was completely dark all around.
"Should I not have come in by myself?"
"Miyuki said she was scared, so I should have said 'Then let's not go,' and then gone with her to see the surround sound movie!"
"Oh dear, I'm such an idiot!..."
Although he was heartbroken about the ticket price, Kindaichi thought it was a good opportunity to win over Miyuki, so he steeled himself and turned to walk back the way he came in.
However, after walking for a long time, they still couldn't reach the gate that was so close at hand.
It was pitch black all around, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, and you couldn't tell which way was which at all.
I don't know if I took the wrong road.
Kindaichi, who usually cowers in fear of Miyuki, refrained from shouting and instead carefully crossed his arms and groped his way forward.
Strangely, they didn't encounter anyone.
There were no tourists, nor any NPCs in the haunted house.
It seemed as if he was the only person in the place, groping around in the dark like a headless fly.
Kindaichi was a little scared and was about to call out tentatively when he caught a glimpse of light.
Whether it's an exit or an entrance, at least the light comes from outside.
We're saved!
Having experienced countless adventures and bizarre murders, the boy, who wasn't actually that timid, let out a long sigh of relief.
He then strode quickly toward the light.
"Huh, where am I...?"
Kindaichi, standing at the entrance, was momentarily stunned by the sight of the amusement park he had arrived at, a scene so different from the one he had come from.
I've never heard of a haunted house having a back door.
"Hey, is anyone there?" he finally called out. "Come on, where am I?"
A figure appeared in front of him in response.
They seemed to be staff members here, but when the two of them faced each other, they both paused in surprise.
"Wow!" Kindaichi jumped three feet high, took a few steps back, and pointed at the person opposite him.
"You...you...are you a human or a ghost?"
"Have I stumbled into the underworld?"
Yoruichi Toyama, who should now be called Jingran, stared at him speechlessly for a long time.
Then he sighed, as if resigning himself to fate.
"I never expected that the first customer I served would be an old acquaintance..."
As he spoke, he raised his hand to his chest in a rather pretentious manner and bowed politely.
"Hello, I am the temporary administrator of the transit station number one. You can call me Yoruichi Toyama."
"Welcome to the real world, Hajime-chan!"
-The End-
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