Chapter 20: Smart but Misguided
Chapter 20
"So, why did I come here with you?"
"How could you bear to let a lady like me board a cruise ship with so many people on it? What if I get kidnapped?"
"Putting aside the question of who would be more unlucky if something like this happened, the question now is... is it really okay for you to bring me here without even asking for my opinion?"
For the first time ever, Gong You wasn't wearing the volleyball club uniform. He took a deep breath and finally couldn't help but say, "Since you're going to the party, why don't you at least tell me in advance? You brought me here while I was sleeping and didn't even ask what color I liked. Don't you think this is too much?"
As he said this, Gong You tugged at the collar of his suit: "I don't like such a flashy color. If it happens again, you'll get angry no matter what I say."
So there might be a next time? Kurokawa Kaoru's expression shifted slightly, and he nodded without any guilt at all: "Then remember to send me your favorite color, and I'll add it to my memo."
"That's more like it."
Gong You nodded in satisfaction, then looked at the cruise ship in front of him: "I have to say, although I have seen it on the news, this is too big. It is completely different from the cruise ships seen in the port."
"After all, it's the Suzuki Group, so it's normal for the cruise ship to be of this level."
Kuroba Kaito appeared out of nowhere, with the corners of his lips raised, his eyes fixed on Gong You: "Hello, I'm Doi Takeshu."
"Gong You."
The other party didn't extend his hand, so Gong You naturally wouldn't take the initiative to shake hands. After a brief glance, Gong You lowered his eyes and said in a flat voice, "You brought me here. Is there anything I can do for you?"
Doi Takeshu? He grumbled inwardly. It was such a clearly fake name, it was hard to believe he could say it so calmly.
Unlike the black-clad figures I'd seen at Dorobigaar Paradise, this person didn't have that unnerving aura, so he wasn't a dangerous person. For Kurokawa to attach such importance to him, there must be someone important on this cruise ship. I just didn't know why Kurokawa was wearing women's clothing.
If you attend the party as "Kurokawa Kaoru", wouldn't it be better to change back into men's clothes?
Could it be that... this important person is someone we need to be wary of, so we can't let him know our true identity.
“…”
In a sense, it's a pretty accurate guess.
Just by looking at this person's expression, one could guess what Gong You was thinking. Pulling him towards the registration area, seeing that he was distracted and still accurately wrote his name right below his own, Kurokawa Kaoru chuckled and gently stepped on him.
"Hiss... Kurokawa, what are you doing stepping on me all of a sudden?"
"That's a horrible expression, idiot."
Reaching out and poking the other person's eyebrows, as expected, seeing the helplessness on Gong You's face, Kurokawa Kaoru smiled and narrowed his eyes in a good mood: "Regarding the problem you just mentioned... You don't need to do anything, so you can rest assured."
Gong You was stunned for a moment: "Really not necessary?"
"how?"
Kurokawa Kaoru was a little amused: "Do you really want to do something?"
"No way, asshole!"
"Then don't think too much about it. I heard there are delicious cakes on the Sally Beth, and I was looking forward to it on the way here."
"I'm talking to you..."
"This time, I'm only responsible for covering the situation. The one who really needs a headache is that guy."
With his back to Kuroba Kaito, Kurokawa Kaoru raised the corners of his lips and pointed at him. Seeing the realization on Miya Yu's face, he smiled and shook his head before continuing, "As for why I brought you here, it's simply because it's too boring for me to eat cake here alone."
"……ha?"
"Didn't I tell you at the beginning? It would be terrible if a beautiful lady like me boarded a cruise ship with so many people on it and got kidnapped."
Ladies... kidnapping...
Gong You twitched the corner of his mouth and looked at the other person hesitantly, wanting to say something.
Is this guy serious?
While Kurokawa Kaoru and Miya Yuu were talking, Kuroba Kaito had already disappeared into the crowd. He switched his phone's notification mode to vibrate, turned around, and was about to ask someone to go to the dessert area with him when he was frozen in place by a certain elementary school student who had appeared with his "own master."
After taking a few seconds to accept what was happening, Kurokawa Xuan took a deep breath and rushed forward to hug Gong You's arm.
"Youyou, I want to eat chocolate!"
Gong You: ...
Appeared! A disgusting version of Kurokawa!
With his arm tightly held, Gong You took a deep breath and said with a forced smile, "For my own protection, let me ask first, shouldn't that kind of dangerous thing happen here?"
"You're so annoying, Youyou. Didn't we see that when we came here? There were so many police officers at the door. With them protecting everyone, how could anything dangerous happen?"
At an angle where no one could see, he gently pinched the soft flesh on Miya Yu's waist and noticed the stiffness in her body. Kurokawa Kaoru's eyebrows arched, and he half-pushed and half-forced her towards the dessert area: "I've been craving chocolate for a while now. Come with me, Yuyu."
“…”
What bad luck. The moment he lowered his head, Kurokawa Kaoru's face was expressionless. When he came here, Kuroba didn't tell him that Kudo Shinichi would also be on this cruise ship!
It's not Kuroba Kaito's fault that this happened. After all, it's too outrageous for a high school student to "shrink" into an elementary school student. If he hadn't seen the other party's magical transformation into a smaller person on the surveillance camera, Kurokawa Kaoru would not have thought that there was a high school student's soul in Conan Edogawa's body.
"Well...it has nothing to do with me anyway."
The only one who knew that Edogawa Conan and Kudo Shinichi were the same person was the male version of Kurokawa Kaoru. Even if Kudo Shinichi had a good memory enough to remember what happened in Dorobigaar Land, he would at most just feel sad that he met them again and would not think about anything else.
Thinking of this, Kurokawa Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief, and his eyes fell on Gong You: "Fortunately, I brought this guy here because I was bored."
Gong You turned around and asked: "What did you say just now? Your voice was too soft, I didn't hear it at all."
"When I say you're actually handsome, I think that's the charm of formal wear. Even Gong Yoo can look handsome."
"What do you mean even if it's Gong You? And...that's definitely not what you just said, right?"
"Let's not talk about this. Do you know what the gem represents?"
"gem?"
Gong You shook his head: "I don't know much about these things."
"Didn't I tell you this when I got here? Although the Sally Beth is a place for the Suzuki Group to showcase its wealth and also provides a social venue for the wealthy, this time we're mainly here to admire the Suzuki Group's heirloom—the Black Star."
"You mean the black pearl?"
Seeing the nod, Gong You blinked and continued, "I saw it on the news before, but I remember that the Black Star was on display in the exhibition hall, wasn't it?"
"In this world, there are always some people who refuse to give up and want to prove their strength in various ways."
Because he received the challenge letter from Kaito Kid, he stubbornly brought the real Black Star to the Sallybeth and gathered so many police officers together, completely unaware that by doing so he was actually falling into that guy's trap.
"Since ancient times, gemstones have represented women, and pearls represent the moon and women. That's why the Black Star is a family heirloom of the Suzuki Group."
"I see."
Gong You suddenly understood: "After all, the Suzuki Group has always been run by a female boss, so it's no wonder..."
Kurokawa Kaoru nodded with a smile: "That's right, so the Suzuki Group..."
“Pah—”
The overhead lights were turned off.
Fortunately, the darkness didn't last long. Soon, Suzuki Tomoko walked to the front of the stage and told the guests that this was just an interlude before the banquet began. The guests on the cruise ship had long known that the Suzuki Group had received a challenge letter from Kaito Kid, and they also knew that there were many police officers on the cruise ship who wanted to catch him.
The Suzuki Group's hostess was certainly confident in her plan. Moreover, with so many police officers present, even Kaito Kidd, with his omnipotent abilities, wouldn't be able to take the Black Star away from her. Thinking of this, she smiled and asked the guests to open the gifts they had received upon entry.
Hearing Suzuki Tomoko's voice, the guests opened the gift box, only to find a black pearl that looked exactly like the Black Star inside.
"A trick? That's quite interesting."
With so many guests present, it is not so easy to find the real Dark Star among them. This is what Suzuki Tomoko is thinking.
but--
"It's still too naive."
Kurokawa Kaoru sighed.
As he had just said, pearls represent the moon and femininity. Few of the guests present were feminine or moon-like, and pearls gradually lose their luster after oxidation. Furthermore, the Black Star is a family heirloom of the Suzuki Group, so it's obvious that Suzuki Tomoko wouldn't just hand it over to someone she didn't know.
With Hei Yu's intelligence, whatever he can think of, the other party can naturally react to it in the first time.
In other words, apart from Suzuki Tomoko herself, there is absolutely no other more suitable candidate among the many guests present.
Thinking of this, Kurokawa Kaoru lowered his eyes and slowly opened his own souvenir.
“…”
"...Do you have a handkerchief?"
"Didn't you put it in my pocket? How come you don't remember it?"
"So it was me who put it there?"
With a dry laugh, Kurokawa Kaoru took the handkerchief from Gong You's hand, took a deep breath, wrapped his share of black pearls in the handkerchief, and pinned it on his chest.
Are you kidding me? With his back to Gong You, Kurokawa Kaoru's expression almost turned ferocious. Why would the real Black Star be with him? If Hei Yu finally discovered that the Black Star was in his hands, wouldn't he be accused of knowing nothing about it?
In order to distinguish between his female and male attire, Kurokawa Kaoru used the pseudonym "Kurokawa Tsuki" when registering. Because he was wearing women's clothing, others could not recognize him. However, Suzuki Sonoko, who gave him the boat ticket, knew that he was Kurokawa Kaoru because they had met once before and their families were related.
As a daughter, Suzuki Sonoko knew it, and Suzuki Tomoko naturally knew it too.
Although it is a fake identity, the name "Kurokawa Tsuki" also contains the word "Yue", and his current image is indeed a girl, so it is consistent to a certain extent.
He quickly figured it out in his mind, looked at the black pearl on his chest, closed his eyes, and finally couldn't help cursing.
TBC.
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