"Exactly! Let's worry about tomorrow's problems tomorrow," Ran said with a slight smile, agreeing. "After all, no one can predict what tomorrow holds. How could we coincidentally stumble upon a case?"
"Hmm..." Sonoko pondered, then nodded helplessly. "Maybe I'm just overthinking it." She could already imagine encountering a case while shopping tomorrow, or even Fujino bailing on them for a case before they even started. But then she thought again, maybe she really was overthinking. As Ran said, how many cases could there possibly be?
---
The next day, in front of the Mouri Detective Agency.
Since it was the weekend, Sonoko arrived early and called Ran out. As Ran was going shopping, Conan naturally tagged along.
"Huh?" Ran, dressed in a woolen coat, black mini-skirt, and sheer black stockings over her long legs, looked at Fujino with a hint of surprise. "Fujino-senpai, are you saying Inspector Megure invited you to investigate a case, and you can't go shopping today?"
"That's right," Fujino nodded. Just this morning, Inspector Megure, as he expected, called him. He said it was the weekend, and he invited Fujino to investigate the fishing incident they encountered the day before yesterday. After briefly weighing his options, he immediately agreed. After all, shopping with girls... was too boring. However, even though he was bailing, strictly speaking, he wasn't really. He remembered that even if he went fishing with Inspector Megure and the others, he'd still run into Ran and Sonoko mid-way.
"Just as I thought..." Sonoko, wearing a light green coat with a blue turtleneck sweater underneath, a dark blue mini-skirt, and white knee-high socks, sighed faintly, her tone a little resentful. "He's really bailing on us because of a case."
"Haha..." Ran let out an awkward chuckle. She hadn't expected it to actually happen, just as Sonoko had said... But she didn't think too much of it, simply considering it a coincidence. She tried to console Sonoko, "It can't be helped, can it? After all, Senpai is a criminal consultant now. Inspector Megure and the others always need help when they encounter a case..."
"A case...?" At that moment, Conan, who was following behind Ran, suddenly heard about a case and curiously asked, "Fujino-niichan, what kind of case are you investigating?"
"An assault case," Fujino glanced at Conan and answered briefly. "A perpetrator has been continuously attacking young girls. Several people have fallen victim these past few days, so they called me to investigate that case."
"There's something like that?" Sonoko stroked her chin upon hearing this. "But attacking those fashionable girls... what kind of culprit is it? I hope I won't get attacked too."
"A suspect who attacks girls..." Conan mused upon hearing this. It wasn't a murder case, so he wasn't particularly interested. But compared to shopping with two women, he thought an assault case sounded better. So, he suddenly said childishly, "Hey, Ran-neechan, how about we go investigate the case with Fujino-niichan?"
"No, you can't!" Ran said strictly, crossing her arms. "If you come along, you'll definitely just bother Fujino-senpai at work again."
"No way..." Conan pouted slightly, a bit disappointed. Then, as if remembering something, he suddenly brought up, "But if Fujino-niichan can't go, who's going to drive? If we take the bus, won't it be inconvenient to buy a lot of things?"
"Then I'll have someone drive us..." Sonoko thought for a moment. "I should have just kept the driver earlier."
"Actually, it's not that much trouble," Fujino pulled out his car keys from his pocket. "If Uncle Mouri has time, he can just drive my car, can't he?"
---
Kogoro Mouri drove Ran and the others to the department store for their shopping trip. Meanwhile, Fujino rode his motorcycle to the agreed meeting spot with Inspector Megure.
Early in the morning, Miwako Sato was already dressed up, just as she was the day before yesterday when they were fishing.
"I wonder if we'll catch that guy today..." Miwako Sato sighed faintly, tugging at the short skirt at her fair thighs. "That guy hasn't attacked me yet. Could there be something wrong with my disguise?"
"I think Officer Sato's disguise is very convincing," Wataru Takagi glanced at Sato, his face slightly flushed. "Perhaps the culprit doesn't plan to commit any crimes recently?"
Miwako Sato didn't quite agree with Takagi's opinion. She turned and asked, "Fujino, what do you think?"
"Maybe it's because of skin tone?" Fujino thought for a moment, hesitating. "After all, the girls who were attacked all had dark skin. Officer Sato, you're as pale as can be, so maybe you're not his type?"
"I know that!" Miwako Sato was a bit troubled. "But getting a tan... while I'm not against it, I can't really do it..."
"That kind of fashion should be popular among girls now. The culprit can't only target that group, right?" Takagi, not wanting Miwako Sato to get tan, tried to reassure her.
"Actually, you don't necessarily have to tan," Fujino thought for a moment. "If you just use a darker foundation, the effect would be similar, but you'd need to prepare a lot of foundation beforehand."
"Foundation... that's true," Miwako Sato nodded. "Then I'll go ask the logistics department for some tomorrow to try."
"Are you ready, Sato?" At that moment, the minivan door slid open, and Inspector Megure poked his head in. "Everyone here is in position."
"Ready!" Miwako Sato replied, walking out of the minivan while putting on her earpiece, muttering, "Let's see if we can catch that guy today. If we don't catch him again, I'll have to try darkening my skin. I'll be relying on you then, Fujino."
"No problem," Fujino nodded and followed her out.
The group and several other police officers split up in front of a department store. Miwako Sato walked into a phone booth. Two plainclothes officers in suits, who were also part of the operation, parked their car next to the phone booth. Takagi hid in an alley nearby. He disguised himself by hiding in a dumpster. Inspector Megure squatted down, found a few bags, and covered himself at the alley entrance.
Fujino: "..." He silently glanced at the alley where Takagi was hiding. Then he looked at Inspector Megure, who was hiding in a dumpster. *He just thought hiding in an alley would be fine... What the heck is hiding in a dumpster?!*
"Inspector Megure, what are you doing...?" Fujino looked at Inspector Megure, speechless, and frowned. "Isn't there an alley nearby?"
"The view isn't wide in the alley," Inspector Megure poked out a pair of small eyes from the dumpster, saying earnestly, "See? The view is very wide like this, and I can jump out anytime... Do you want to hide here too? I'll make room for you."
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