Chapter 679 is so similar it's almost unbelievable.
...
The second day was the weekend, and there seemed to be more people on the street, though most of them were still students.
A woman with bright red hair is leading her friend into the family restaurant she has been promoting for a long time, recommending that she try the curry.
The girl with golden curly hair had a smile on her face, but there seemed to be a hint of helplessness in her eyes.
She followed the red-haired woman into the restaurant.
But as soon as she entered, she was called out, "Ah! Naiyue, what a coincidence, I didn't expect to run into you here!"
Hearing a somewhat familiar voice, Kuno Naya turned around and, as expected, it was Toyama Kazuha.
She raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled at Kazuha Toyama. "What a coincidence, Kazuha. Why are you the only one here? Where's your Hattori Heiji?"
Yuanshan and Ye Doudou blushed, then became somewhat embarrassed and angry. "Nonsense, that guy isn't mine!"
"Nayazuki, who is this?" The red-haired woman standing next to Kuno Nayazuki looked at Toyama Kazuha with a hint of doubt.
It was only then that Toyama Kazuha noticed her.
Kuno Naya smiled and introduced them to each of them, "This is Toyama Kazuha from Osaka, and this is Akaga Mikako from Tokyo."
"Hello."
The two greeted each other.
Kuno Naya glanced at the vacuum-packed curry in Toyama Kazuha's hand. "Are you buying something and heading back?"
"Yes, that's right. My family likes this curry, so they asked me to buy some to take back with me when I come to Tokyo." Kazuha Toyama nodded with a smile. "And I also think it's really delicious!"
"I see, no wonder Mikako recommended it so highly." Kuno Naya nodded knowingly.
They chatted briefly, and just as Kazuha was about to say goodbye and leave, a scream suddenly rang out from the restaurant's restroom.
Three girls: "?"
It seems another murder has occurred, because someone quickly called the police, who arrived promptly and asked everyone in the restaurant not to leave.
Kazuha Toyama, who was just about to leave: "..."
She let out a helpless "Ah," took out her phone, explained the situation to Hattori Heiji, and then heard him say he'd be there soon before the call was disconnected.
Kuno Naya paused for a moment, shrugged slightly, smiled at Toyama Kazuha, and suggested, "It seems the detectives will be here soon. Kazuha, why don't you sit down and have something to eat with us? After all, it takes detectives a lot of time to solve cases."
Kazuha Toyama thought about it for a moment and agreed, so she nodded and ordered food with them before sitting down at an empty seat.
Those detectives are incredibly fast when they encounter cases; they've already appeared at the restaurant door before the customers' meals have even been served.
Yuanshan and Ye waved to them, attracting their attention.
As soon as they looked over, they noticed that Kuno Naya was also there.
"Good afternoon, everyone." Kuno Naya waved gently at them.
"Nayazuki!" Ran Mouri was pleasantly surprised to see her friends whom she hadn't seen for a while. She walked over and was invited to sit down with them.
Conan, who would normally head straight for the crime scene upon arriving here, suddenly had his pupils shrink when he saw the red-haired woman sitting next to Kuno Naya.
There was no other reason than that the woman's appearance was so strikingly similar to that of Murai Rena, the woman who had 'kindly' given them a ride to the villa last time!
However, later news reports clearly stated that all nine men and women in the villa perished in the massive fire.
Is it just that they look alike...?
Conan stared intently at the red-haired woman. Although there was physical evidence and the police confirmed that she had indeed perished in the fire, he still felt something was very wrong.
Noticing his change in mood, Hattori Heiji patted him on the shoulder, followed his gaze to Akaga Mikako, and then asked in a low voice, "Hey Kudo, is that guy acting strange?"
"Ah, something is indeed amiss." Conan nodded gravely. "But it's not related to this murder case. I'll tell you about that later. Let's solve this case first."
Hattori Heiji raised an eyebrow. "Alright, I, the famous detective from the west, will definitely solve cases faster than you, the famous detective from the east!"
Conan's lips twitched slightly: "..."
After glancing at the two who had ended their whispered conversation, Sera Masumi, who was following behind, turned her head and looked in the direction of Kuno Nayazuki and the others, a thoughtful look flashing in her green eyes.
Since they weren't detectives or anything like that, the girls weren't really interested in the murder case. They sat around the table and chatted quietly.
"In my opinion, Xiaolan, you're just too concerned. If you relax a little, he'll probably come running back to you." Yuanshan Kazuha waved his hand and said seriously.
Kuno Naya chuckled softly upon hearing this, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she teased her in return, "But Kazuha, you and Hattori haven't made any progress at all, have you?"
Kazuha Toyama was embarrassed and annoyed again, "Who wants to have anything going on with a guy like that!"
Ran Mouri laughed out loud. Thinking about what happened in the UK a few days ago, she felt her cheeks getting hot, so she quickly changed the subject, which turned to Naya Kuno.
"Speaking of which, it seems like Naoya usually prefers to go out alone, right?"
Kuno Naya smiled, not calling out her obvious attempt to change the subject, "Because I still go back to the US often, so sometimes I'm not quite used to being in Japan, and my father is quite worried about that."
"Oh, I see. If you're free, you can always come and hang out with us."
Ran thought about it and agreed. It was indeed difficult for a girl to make friends when she was so far away from home and in an unfamiliar place.
“Sure, if you don’t mind the trouble,” Kuno Naya Tsuki replied with a smile.
"It's no trouble at all."
While they were chatting, Conan and his friends were struggling with the case. Although the conversation they overheard during the victim's phone call provided them with clues, their main task was to identify the culprit among the three suspects—the one from Osaka with a distinctive accent.
After all, the murderer hid himself as a Tokyo resident quite well.
After the girls finished eating and drinking, their party was about to end.
After observing the interaction between Conan and Heiji Hattori, Naya Kuno looked puzzled, then turned to Ran Mouri and asked, "Ran, are they having a contest to see who can solve the case first?"
Ran Mouri smiled helplessly and nodded, confirming her guess. "Yeah, Shinichi and Heiji are having a competition to see who's stronger..."
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