Conan felt a nudge at his trouser pocket. He whipped his head around, alert, just in time to see a crow plucking his Detective Badge right out of the pocket. He instinctively reached out to grab it.
The crow dodged with snake-like agility, letting out a mocking "Kaa!" before flapping its wings and taking flight.
"Annoying! Shoo! Get lost!" Genta waved his arms frantically to drive the birds away, but then he froze. "Huh? My Detective Badge!"
The crow, clutching the badge in its beak, seemed displeased about being shooed away earlier. As it took off, it used Genta's head as a springboard, stomping down hard before swaggering off into the sky.
"Wait! Give me back my badge!" Genta clutched the spot on his head where the bird had stepped, looking ready to chase it down.
Mitsuhiko quickly held him back. "Alright, Genta, you can't catch up to it now. Conan's badge was stolen, too. We'll just ask Dr. Agasa to make new ones for you another day!"
Genta struggled forward angrily. "No! I want to get my badge back!"
Conan looked at the noisy pair. Although he was a bit depressed about having his own badge stolen, he tried to be the voice of reason. "Hey, come on, it's just a badge..."
Haibara looked up toward the horizon where the crow had vanished. "Having our badges stolen by a murder of crows... that is not a good omen."
"Hey, Haibara, you..."
Conan turned to look at Haibara speechlessly, only to be grabbed by Genta.
"Conan, you want to get your badge back too, right?!"
"Genta, we have to see Ayumi first!" Mitsuhiko desperately pulled Genta back. "Don't you agree, Conan?"
"No! We are the Detective Boys! We have to let those robbers know the consequences of stealing from us!"
Conan was being pulled back and forth like a ragdoll. He wanted to ask Haibara for help, but found she was still distracted, staring at the sky where the crow had flown, her expression gradually turning numb.
I'm so tired, Conan thought. Suddenly, I don't want to talk anymore...
On the way to Aoyama Fourth Hospital, a flock of crows followed the car from a distance.
Mitsuru Mamiya didn't notice. He freed his right hand and passed a document to Chi Feichi. "Mr. Chi, I've fudged the details regarding the phone calls from the hospital. Take a look at this first so you don't let the cat out of the bag later."
"Thank you," Chi Feichi said, taking the document.
"You're welcome." Mitsuru smiled. It was finally going to be over. He was so happy!
Chi Feichi scanned the file. It recorded the times Aoyama Fourth Hospital had called and a rough summary of the fabricated conversations.
Most of the calls to Mitsuru were from Dr. Fukuyama. Mitsuru's excuses were varied and creative:
"He's painting right now... let him come to the phone? He's in the zone; it's not convenient to disturb him... Yes, his condition is good, no abnormalities. Yes, please call again tomorrow..."
"He is following the gardener to organize the flowerbeds. It's temporarily inconvenient for him to answer. I'm terribly sorry... Yes, his daily activities are very rich..."
"We are going for a picnic in the forest near the castle. He already went ahead with the servants. I really didn't expect it, but he can cook, too..."
"He went to the tower to watch the sunrise. Yes, the environment here is pristine..."
Except for the two times Chi Feichi happened to answer the phone himself, every other excuse Mitsuru invented was designed to avoid putting him on the line.
He had fabricated a picture-perfect, healthy lifestyle for Chi Feichi without repeating a single excuse. The man was a genius!
As Chi Feichi read, he heard Mitsuru burst into laughter. He looked up silently.
No, perhaps... he's a talent who has simply never been discovered?
When they arrived at Aoyama Fourth Hospital, Dr. Fukuyama was already waiting at the door. When the car stopped, he greeted them actively, smiling like a benevolent Buddha. "Mr. Chi, welcome back!"
Chi Feichi: "..."
He didn't want this welcome at all.
"Mr. Mamiya, long time no see," Fukuyama greeted Mitsuru, then turned to Chi Feichi. "Mr. Shinnosuke has already explained the situation. The person coming to pick you up should arrive soon. By the way, Mr. Chi, what day is it tomorrow?"
Feichi hid inside Chi Feichi's sleeve and hissed, "Master, Saturday! Saturday!"
Chi Feichi didn't want to compromise, but staring into Fukuyama's smiling face, he submitted. "Saturday."
Fukuyama smiled and nodded. "It seems Mr. Chi has recovered very well recently. Maybe a complete recovery is on the horizon. Let's go inside."
Walking through the hall and into the corridor, Chi Feichi suddenly heard a panicked female voice.
"Mr. Chi, Dr. Fukuyama, watch out!"
Chi Feichi immediately turned his head toward the sound, only to see a bird hopping by the flower bed.
"..."
That wretched bird is back?!
The bird, sensing Chi Feichi's intense stare, felt its feathers stand on end. "Hi?"
Still "Hi"?
Chi Feichi felt Dr. Fukuyama's gaze on him, and his expression darkened slightly.
The bird guiltily flew up to the big tree in the yard. Standing high up, it felt its heart settle. "Don't be so stingy, it was just a joke!"
"Mr. Chi?" Fukuyama observed Chi Feichi's subtle reaction. "Did you hear that bird talking again?"
Mitsuru Mamiya looked at the bird on the tree. He desperately wanted to report everything—Chi Feichi can not only hear birds talk, but he also raises a snake and talks to it all day long! Living with him tests one's mental fortitude! For the sake of everyone's sanity, please don't let him out!
However, considering how much he had lied, how many brain cells he had wasted, and how exhausted he was, he didn't want to create extra problems at the finish line. He suppressed the impulse.
Forget it. I'm relieved anyway. I wish the next guardian good luck!
"No," Chi Feichi said, turning back, his expression returning to calm. "I just feel that bird is going to be unlucky."
Fukuyama observed Chi Feichi for a moment and gave up. Well, he is still the Mr. Chi I'm familiar with—difficult to deal with. "Mr. Chi, do you feel you have precognition abilities?"
Chi Feichi looked at the big tree again. "Not precognition..."
Suddenly, a large flock of crows rushed over the courtyard wall with a whoosh, flying straight for the big tree.
The red-eyed crow cawed with commanding authority, "My mighty minions, clear the field!"
"Caw... caw...""Kaa——!"
The murder of crows rushed toward the confused bird on the tree, their flapping wings knocking the unresponsive creature aside.
Creatures like crows love to pull animal fur. Cats, dogs, lions, tigers, wild wolves, vultures... if there is a chance, there is nothing they won't peck. Even when just flying by, crows can't help but take a bite out of things.
"Stop!" "Don't pull my tail!"
The bird rushed out of the encirclement, shaking off a cloud of feathers, and quickly slipped away to a nearby roof.
Chi Feichi felt refreshed watching this. He turned to Fukuyama and said calmly, "Just crows bullying a smaller bird. Typical avian drama."
Fukuyama looked at the tree full of crows, speechless for a moment. He didn't ask further and took the two men to his office.
More than ten minutes later, Fukuyama answered a phone call and brought a middle-aged man back with him.
The man wore a brown suit. He was tall with a high hairline that gave him a look of distinguished wisdom. His features were regular, his beard and hair tidy. Even when smiling, his aura was a notch stronger than Mitsuru Mamiya's.
"Feichi, we haven't seen each other for many years. Do you still remember me?"
Chi Feichi found a vague figure in his memory—features and beard similar, though the hairline hadn't been so high back then. "Uncle Mikio?"
"Hahaha, I didn't expect you to still remember! We haven't seen each other since you were two or three years old." The man sat in the chair and looked at Mitsuru. "And this gentleman..."
Introductions and polite remarks followed. Dr. Fukuyama also confirmed some details about the situation.
The man was Mikio Morizono, a distant relative of Chi Feichi's "cheap dad." In the early years, he had some contact with Chi Feichi's parents.
However, because the Chi Group had been developing abroad in recent years, contact between the two families had slowly decreased, limited to occasional meetings at business gatherings.
When the man signed the registry, Chi Feichi glanced at the name: Mikio Morizono.
Mitsuru Mamiya said his goodbyes and left. Mikio Morizono walked out of the hospital with Chi Feichi and got into the car parked at the entrance.
As the driver drove, Mikio sat in the back seat, chatting with Chi Feichi. "Your father is coming back soon, too. After attending my son Kikuhito's wedding, he should drop by to pick you up."
Chi Feichi searched his memory. Kikuhito Morizono?
If he remembered correctly, that name belonged to the culprit who killed his own housekeeper in a locked-room incident right before a wedding.
Combined with the Morizono family's situation, the possibility of it being a coincidence was very low.
Which meant... that cheap father of his had found another problem family for him?
Mikio didn't mind Chi Feichi's lack of response. "That year we visited your home, Kikuhito was sick and stayed behind, so you haven't met him. But Yurie came with us. Do you still remember Yurie?"
Chi Feichi recalled a girl slightly older than Ayumi and nodded.
Mikio laughed suddenly. "Hahaha, if Yurie knows you still remember her, she will definitely be very happy! She and Kikuhito are only two years apart. They often quarreled when they were young—neither found the other pleasing to the eye. But their relationship got better as they grew up. When Yurie went to your home back then, she actually liked taking care of you. Later, she nagged for a long time, saying she wanted an obedient brother like you!"
They first went to Chi Feichi's residence to pack two sets of clothes, then headed to the Morizono estate. As the car drove, a flock of crows in the sky chased them the entire way.
Mikio Morizono was a conversationalist. Even facing Chi Feichi's character—who only occasionally responded with a few sentences—there were no awkward silences. He spoke naturally about past events, the recent business climate, and his family situation.
Chi Feichi listened the whole way, not feeling bored.
The Morizono home was also a castle-style architecture, but not as remote as the Mamiya estate. It wasn't even far from Beika Town; it was a quiet sanctuary amidst the noise.
Chi Feichi got out of the car and looked back. Sure enough, the flock of crows had followed, landing one by one on the nearby trees.
Actually, the environment here was very good. There were few neighbors, and travel wasn't troublesome.
It was a pity he wouldn't be able to live here for long.
Never mind that Kikuhito Morizono was about to kill someone—would this family even have the mood to take care of others afterward? Even if he stopped Kikuhito, once the wedding was held and the couple was newlyweds, having an outsider like him hanging around every day wouldn't be appropriate.
And if Kikuhito didn't hold the wedding and let his fiancée find happiness elsewhere, the family's mood would likely be terrible.
Moreover, his cheap dad seemed to just want to put him here as a transition...
Chi Feichi was distracted when he suddenly heard rapid footsteps approaching from behind. He dodged to the side.
A figure in a red dress flashed past where Chi Feichi had just been standing, pouncing on empty air. After regaining her balance, her dignified face showed a trace of annoyance. "Chi Feichi!"
Chi Feichi recognized her and nodded calmly. "Sister Yurie."
Yurie Morizono's dignified facade instantly cracked as she burst into laughter, the anger on her face dissipating completely. "I didn't scare you at all! Please cooperate a little, okay? But I didn't expect you to still remember me. My dad didn't already tell you, did he?"