Chapter 53: Daily life in Beika Town, TV Station
"So why did you call me along for this interview? I finally got a day off!"
Matsuda Jinpei had his hands in his pockets, his face showing only resentment at being woken up, and he was still grumbling even as he walked into the TV station's office building.
He was holding sunglasses in one hand and a sandwich in the other, his arm being held tightly by his childhood friend.
Kenji Hagiwara didn't even need to guess; as soon as he let go, that fist would definitely land on him.
"Is Jinpei going to leave us all to sleep in? That's so heartbreaking for Hagi!"
The black-haired youth rarely changed out of his team uniform, putting on a suit that he wouldn't wear except for year-end summaries and social gatherings. He wore a bow tie that matched his eyes, and like a butterfly, he attracted a lot of attention as he walked by.
Kitagawa Ryusei was happy to get involved in this kind of thing, dragging his friends into working overtime. He flattened and folded the empty milk carton in his hand, threw it into the trash can, and added: "The Metropolitan Police Department originally planned to have Jinpei-kun do the interview, but for safety reasons, they changed it to Kenji."
"After all, we don't know if any members of the Black Organization will recognize Jinpei."
Although the operation took place at night and he was wearing sunglasses, few people could clearly see Matsuda Jinpei's face, but his striking good looks and the presence of a cunning and elusive woman who was adept at disguise made him undeniably attractive.
For safety reasons, it would be best for Matsuda Jinpei not to appear on television.
Hearing this, the curly-haired youth clearly had also thought of this, his brow furrowing: "What about you? Aren't you afraid of being targeted?"
Kitagawa Ryusei blinked and said in a tone as if he were someone who needed to eat and sleep, "It was only a matter of time before I was targeted, so it doesn't matter."
In fact, Kitagawa Ryusei was not only unafraid, but also eagerly anticipated them arranging one or two assassination attempts to remind him of the past. Ideally, they could be considerate of each other and take turns, making it easier to dispose of the bodies and avoid causing trouble for either side.
So the young man shrugged and said jokingly, "Besides you guys, all those people can do is threaten me with coal briquettes. It sounds kind of pathetic."
Matsuda Jinpei frowned even more deeply: "You..."
But it felt awkward to hear him say anything in the style of "understanding and considerate". He turned to look at Kenji Hagiwara, only to be met with a mysterious smile.
"Tsk." The curly-haired officer raised his hand and grabbed a handful of hair from his forehead. "Never mind, you know what you're doing."
After saying that, he told Kenji Hagiwara to let go of his hand, as he didn't want to be dragging around a large accessory in public.
...
In Tokyo, where the crime rate remains high and has been soaring in recent days, the Metropolitan Police Department is less capable than some famous detectives.
The National Police Agency alone has taken notice of several of them, including Shinichi Kudo in the Kanto region and a dark-skinned guy in the Kansai region.
However, people's joys and sorrows are not shared.
The police department rarely deals with minor murders caused by personal grudges and has little interaction with detective work, thus preserving its reputation.
Therefore, the main subject of this interview with Nichiri TV was the captain of the explosives squad promoted by the Metropolitan Police Department.
A detective who is always on duty in Beika Town, never makes a mistake, and is irreplaceable.
On the contrary, Inspector Kitagawa Ryusei was merely chosen by Nichiri TV for his looks, and was sent along to serve as an emotionless mascot and a figurehead for the police force.
It's not a big deal.
Unlike Kenji Hagiwara, who is at ease in front of the camera and tells his thrilling bomb disposal story in a dramatic and captivating way, Ryusei Kitagawa only shows instinctive dislike and wariness in front of the camera.
However, he managed his expression very well, and apart from those who knew him well, no one could tell that the young man was being perfunctory and insincere.
The only one who suffered was Matsuda Jinpei, who was forcibly dragged over. One ear was listening to his childhood friend's passionate narration of "A Race Against Time! The Storm in Beika Town!", while the other ear was forced to listen to a perfect police speech that was "based on police conduct guidelines, the cherry blossom oath, and the tone of a declaration to all the people of Japan."
The former should write short stories, while the latter sounds like he's aiming for the position of Superintendent General of Police.
Just as Matsuda Jinpei was getting drowsy and his eyelids were about to kiss his upper and lower eyelids, Kitagawa Ryusei's attention was mostly focused on the host in front of him who was conducting the interview.
The female host had her black hair tied in a low ponytail, with two strands of bangs curving down her forehead, and bright blue eyes.
It's easy to see from her interview that she has strong work ability, excellent stage presence, and high professional ethics as a television station employee.
Rena Mizunashi.
A glint flashed in Kitagawa Ryusei's eyes.
Kiel.
Because of his outstanding abilities, coupled with good luck in taking advantage of the CIA robbery and Rum's arrest twice, his promotion speed once surpassed that of Bourbon and Rye.
She rose through the ranks and died at the hands of her superiors; in the eyes of other members of the organization, she was just like Bourbon—extremely free.
Given that Team Zero has made considerable progress in the past two days by simply looking at the files of Kitagawa Ryusei and Kazami Yuya and the records of cases they have investigated, Kitagawa Ryusei, who is already more gentlemanly towards ladies, will only be more patient with her.
Is she an intelligence team member with a certain level of influence, like Vermouth, and who can attend various interview events...?
As soon as the interview ended, Kitagawa Ryusei, for the first time, struck up a conversation with a stranger before Hagiwara Kenji.
Ignoring the stares of his peers who seemed to have seen a ghost in broad daylight, the young man smiled politely and charmingly: "Miss.007?"
Rena Mizunashi, who was tidying up her interview notes, paused, her blue eyes darting around with a puzzled expression: "Was the officer calling me?"
"I apologize, perhaps that was a bit rude."
As if it were just a little joke, Kitagawa Ryusei said, "But whenever I hear your name, Miss, I always have that kind of association..."
"You look like a capable and efficient female secret agent."
The words fell to the ground, and the surroundings fell silent for a moment.
Rena Mizunashi's gaze froze, her expression becoming somewhat complicated. She maintained her signature approachable smile, befitting a top-tier host: "That's certainly a cool profession, thank you."
From a distance, the two appeared to be having a pleasant conversation.
Kenji Hagiwara, who had originally planned to make some new friends but was beaten to it, was speechless.
Matsuda Jinpei, who was startled awake by his morning grumpiness, was speechless.
The two slowly locked eyes.
The next moment, two furry heads, seemingly hidden, actually huddled together as if no one else was around.
To be precise, Kenji Hagiwara squeezed in front of Jinpei Matsuda and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear.
Kenji Hagiwara was utterly shocked: "...What's going on?! If I'm not mistaken, is Ruki flirting with a lady?"
Matsuda Jinpei remained silent.
Kenji Hagiwara speculated, "Did he wake up with amnesia? Or did his body leave but his soul remained at home?"
Matsuda Jinpei remained silent.
Kenji Hagiwara shook his head vigorously, as if he had made a huge decision, and said firmly, "No, we didn't see anything!"
Matsuda Jinpei, with his beady eyes, thanked him on behalf of the blond bastard.
Before the black-haired youth could utter another word, Kitagawa Ryusei appeared behind the two of them, his voice low and menacing: "You..."
"What are you talking about? It's time to go."
Kenji Hagiwara immediately stood up straight, hands behind his back, in a standard straddle stance, his guilty conscience practically written all over his face: "Hahaha, nothing, nothing, aren't you guys going to chat anymore?"
Unable to keep up with the other person's imagination, Kitagawa Ryusei was completely confused and turned his gaze to the curly-haired youth who seemed more reliable in comparison.
Matsuda Jinpei was also at his wits' end, ignoring his childhood friend's usual over-the-top behavior: "Ignore him, he's lost his mind."
The person in charge of the interview and Rena Mizunashi escorted the three of them downstairs.
At that moment, two people, one tall and one short, dressed in suits, happened to walk into the lobby on the first floor of the office building.
They don't look like staff members here at first glance.
"Hey! I told you not to follow me, you brat!"
The older one looked impatient, and when he spoke, he put his hands on his hips, and his mustache was blown up by the airflow from his speech, truly embodying the literal meaning of "blowing his mustache and glaring."
The younger one tilted his head back, his face innocent and naive, his bright blue suit making him look both serious and adorable. He seemed troubled: "...But I promised to keep an eye on Uncle for Sister Xiaolan, so I absolutely can't sneak off to drink!"
The older one flew into a rage: "How could I possibly drink when I'm meeting Miss Yoko! Adults need their own space! And you, you little brat, why aren't you in school at your age? Don't your parents care? I don't want the police coming to my door!"
The child's eyes lit up, and he immediately changed tactics: "I want to see Yoko-neechan too! My mom and I both love her shows! Please, uncle!"
As soon as he stepped down the stairs, he saw an acquaintance. Kitagawa Ryusei's gaze swept over the middle-aged man with the mustache and landed on the young detective in the blue suit.
It's a shrunken Shinichi Kudo that I picked up on the street yesterday.
He didn't try to hide his gaze, and it was almost immediately noticed by Shinichi Kudo.
The little boy immediately looked up to find his target, and when he saw Kitagawa Ryusei, he didn't know whether to feel guilty or brighten up first.
Anyway, it's best to call someone first.
He jumped up and waved: "Ryusei-nii!"
The smaller voice should be even crisper, and Shinichi Kudo learned in the shortest amount of time how to use a childish voice to pretend to be harmless.
Kogoro Mouri looked in the direction the man was waving and found that it was someone he didn't recognize.
He vaguely recognized the two young men next to him; he seemed to have seen them when a bomb was dropped on a department store or Beika Park. They were probably bomb disposal police officers.
Matsuda and Hagiwara Kenji, who were standing side by side with Kitagawa Ryusei, both fell into deep thought when they saw the child.
It looks familiar, like I've seen it somewhere before.
They all turned to look at Kitagawa Ryusei.
"My name is Conan Edogawa, and I'm a detective!" the boy blurted out his newly acquired name before Ruki Kitagawa could even finish the sentence.
After saying that, he turned to Kogoro Mouri and introduced him: "Ryusei-nii is a policeman I met through Shinichi-nii. He's a super young inspector!"
As she spoke, she subtly hinted to Kitagawa Ryusei not to expose her.
Because of his height, Kogoro Mouri didn't even see the little case in Edogawa Conan's eyes. Hearing Conan Edogawa's words, he turned around and introduced himself to the three of them: "Hahahaha, I am the famous Detective Mouri! Did you see last night's news? I just solved a murder case last night!"
He scratched his head, and his originally cheerful smile turned into a loud laugh.
To be honest, the case was solved more smoothly than he had imagined, as if he had taken a nap.
Kogoro Mouri was in a hurry to share with others, and before he could resist, he took out his phone from his pocket to show them the news.
Seeing this, Shinichi Kudo chuckled inwardly.
What the heck... If he hadn't used the professor's invention to knock the old man unconscious last night, Inspector Megure and the others would have been misled during their investigation and wasted the whole night...
Conan quickly stopped him, grabbing Kogoro Mouri's hand and shaking it from side to side: "Uncle, detectives don't care about cases that have already been solved! Aren't you on Yoko-nee's behalf? Hurry up, I want to see Yoko-nee!"
"Children shouldn't interrupt adults." Kogoro Mouri, an adult, was pulled so hard he stumbled, and in a fit of anger, he raised his hand and smacked the boy on the head.
With a thud, it sounded like a good start.
Kitagawa Ryusei, Hagiwara Kenji, and Matsuda Jinpei felt a pang of sympathy: ...
The three were speechless, even though they wouldn't have been able to join the conversation anyway.
Instead, Rena Mizunashi, who had listened to the whole thing, looked puzzled: "Did you come to see Yoko, sir? But she didn't come to the TV station today."
"What?!" "Huh?!"
Upon hearing this, the two, one large and one small, who were facing off, turned their heads simultaneously, both in disbelief.
"How could we possibly not see Miss Yoko!"
"But the uncle's request was to come to Nichiri TV station this morning to find Yoko-nee!"
No one knew their work schedule better than the head of Nichiri TV, and he was just about to agree with Rena Mizunashi's words.
Upstairs, an assistant wearing a striped shirt rushed down the stairs.
He looked like he was on fire; his work badge had flown behind him, and he didn't even have time to adjust it before it hit his neck. His face was filled with panic, and he didn't care about the many people in the lobby shouting:
"Chief, something's happened!!"
Seeing the employee's unsteady demeanor, which was damaging to the TV station's image, the manager asked with slight displeasure, "The police officer is still here, why are you in such a panic? What happened?"
The assistant almost couldn't catch his breath:
"—Someone's dead!!"
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