Hanyu House.
"I'm back."
In the entryway, the little girl skillfully took off her leather shoes and put them in the shoe cabinet. Too lazy to change into slippers, the chicken talisman hanging on her chest flashed and floated straight to Yu Sheng Nan, who was sitting on the sofa playing on his phone.
"Hey, move aside."
Ai squeezed into the gap between Yuzuru and the sofa armrest, casually picked up the half-empty iced cola on the table, and took a big gulp without caring. The icy liquid slid down her throat, making her squint her eyes comfortably—completely unaware that someone had drunk from it.
Habits become second nature.
We've already done more intimate things, so what's a little indirect kissing?
"Tsk, he snatched my Coke as soon as he got back." Yuzuru Nan didn't even look up, his fingers continuing to tap on his phone, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Ai turned her head slightly and glanced at his phone screen—the LINE chat interface, with the contact name "Nakamori Aoko".
"Trying to pick up naive girls again?"
She pouted and looked at their conversation with a look of disgust.
"What do you mean by 'flirting'?" Yuzuru finally raised his head, looking completely innocent. "I was just showing concern for my friend."
"Oh."
Xiao Ai sneered, too lazy to expose him.
Yuzuru didn't mind. While continuing to chat with Aoko, he casually reached out and grabbed Ai's soft, white foot, gently rubbing her sole with his thumb.
The little girl's ankles were slender, just big enough to be encircled by her palms, and below them were round, plump heels with a soft curve like they were coated with a thin layer of sugar; a gentle pinch would leave a shallow indentation.
When his toes curled up, they looked like a string of pink and white pearls. His nails were neatly trimmed and had a faint pink tint. Even the spaces between his toes were clean and had a tender red hue. When his thumb inadvertently brushed against the soft flesh of the sole of his foot, his little toe suddenly curled up, and the instep of his foot turned a light red, like a little strawberry trembling gently in the wind, delicate and cute.
"Stop it..." The little girl shrank her feet, but didn't struggle to break free. Instead, she seemed to be enjoying the intimacy, adjusting her position to make herself more comfortable.
Yuzuru didn't stop, his fingertips gently sliding down the instep to between the toes, feeling the skin so delicate it seemed like it could be pinched to release water: "Are you ticklish and still not behaving?"
He deliberately rubbed her toes with his fingertips, and Xiao Ai suddenly kicked her leg, but didn't actually break free. She just bit her lip and glared at him, her eyes filled with anger, but also a hint of vulnerability.
"Aoko said that Phantom Thief Kid has sent out another notice," Yuu Nan said casually. "His target is an ancient sword in the Budokan. Inspector Nakamori is going to lead a team there, and she wants to go and see it too."
"so?"
"So I plan to go and help."
Xiao Ai rolled her eyes and mercilessly exposed him: "You went there to pick up girls, didn't you?"
"How could that be?" Yuzuru said righteously. "As a friend, isn't it only right to help catch a thief?"
As he spoke, he lowered his head and continued typing on his phone: "It's okay, I'm free anyway, let's go together."
The other end replied quickly: 【Thank you so much...】
Yuzuru Hanyu: [Aren't we friends?]
Upon seeing the message, Aoko's cheeks flushed slightly. After hesitating for a moment, she replied: "Thank you, Yuzuru-kun."
Then, the chuunibyou girl seemed very touched and replied with a long message, expressing her gratitude in every word, and also included a cute emoji.
A little girl watched their conversation the whole time and couldn't help but click her tongue in disgust: "Disgusting."
Yuzuru put away his phone with a smile, in an exceptionally pleasant mood. He reached out and pinched Ai's toes: "How about it, do you want to come along?"
"No way." Ai turned her head away haughtily, like a sulking kitten. "I have no interest in going with someone to pick up girls."
"Are you really not going?"
"Science is the only way." Xiao Ai broke free from his clutches, her icy blue eyes glistening with moisture, and jumped off the sofa. "I'm going to find Junhui to continue testing the monkey talisman."
"Hey, don't cause trouble at the shrine!"
Before Yuzuru could finish his warning, the little girl had already drifted away.
............
Inside the shrine.
Shimabukuro Kimie, dressed in an elegant shrine maiden outfit, is intently sweeping the courtyard with a broom in hand.
Seeing Ai float over, she smiled mischievously: "Ai, are we testing the talismans again today?"
"Hmm." Ai nodded and took the monkey talisman from the shrine maiden. "I want to try to see if I can partially animalize a creature and then overlay the features of other animals on it."
Junhui blinked: "For example...?"
"For example, giving a person both cat ears and eagle eyes."
"Hmm...it sounds like an owl, could it be dangerous?"
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
Xiao Ai made a solemn promise, and then—
"Whoosh!"
A flash of purple light appeared, and suddenly a pair of cat ears grew on Junhui's head, while her eyes transformed into sharp eagle eyes.
"Ah!" Junhui couldn't help but exclaim. She subconsciously reached up and touched her eyes, her eyes filled with surprise and confusion. "What a strange feeling..."
"Did it work?" Ai asked excitedly, leaning closer to examine it. "Has your vision improved?"
"It seems... much clearer now." Junhui blinked, looking into the distance. "I can even see the veins in the leaves of the trees outside the shrine..."
"Great!" Ai immediately pulled out her notebook to take notes. "Now, let's test—"
"Ai Haibara!"
Akemi's voice suddenly came from the shrine entrance, startling the little girl so much that her hand trembled and she almost dropped her notebook. The excitement on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a trace of panic.
"Sister? Sister?"
Akemi walked in with her hands on her hips and a serious expression: "Are you conducting dangerous experiments again?"
"No!" Ai immediately denied. "I was just helping Miss Kimie... uh, improve her eyesight?"
Akemi narrowed her eyes, a hint of suspicion in them: "Have you forgotten about the time you created a whale in the lab the day before yesterday, almost causing the villa to collapse?"
Ai: "......"
It was an accident, it was just an accident!
She had only intended to test what it would be like to see a marine creature suddenly appear in the air, but she accidentally thought of a whale when using the Monkey Talisman. Luckily, it was just an orca; if it had been a blue whale, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Her personal savings weren't even enough to cover the losses...
“From today onwards,” Akemi declared ruthlessly, ignoring her sister’s thoughts, “testing talismans at the shrine and villa is forbidden! If you want to conduct experiments, go to the open space outside!”
"But--"
"No buts."
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