"It's Fujino-nii!"
Ayumi excitedly waved her hand and greeted him, "Are you here to pick up Haibara-san from school?"
"Yeah."
Fujino smiled and nodded. "I didn't see you guys at the school gate, so I thought I'd come over here... But you mentioned a killer, what's that all about?"
"Genta's been really distracted lately, and we wanted to ask him what was going on..."
Ayumi explained, then chuckled, "But a killer or something like that, we were just joking, right?!"
Mitsuhiko also nodded in agreement, "After all, how could an elementary school student be targeted by a killer?!"
Haibara Ai's expression remained unchanged. She lowered her head to look at herself, then turned to look at Conan, muttering to herself, "It's not impossible for an elementary school student to be hunted down..."
Conan couldn't help but tease, "You didn't eat too much eel, did you? Like, so much eel rice that the King of Eel is now seeking revenge?"
"King of Eel?"
Mitsuhiko, Ayumi, and Genta looked at Conan in surprise.
"I was just joking."
Conan awkwardly explained, "The King of Eel, that's just something I made up!"
"Why don't any of you believe me!"
Seeing his friends not believing him and Conan even making fun of his favorite eel rice, Genta felt a wave of disappointment. He desperately turned and quickly ran away, "I knew I shouldn't have told you guys!"
"Wait, Genta!"
Mitsuhiko looked at Genta's retreating back and scratched his head. "What's wrong with him?"
Conan clicked his tongue. "Could it be a child's lie being exposed, and now he's throwing a tantrum?"
Fujino thought for a moment, then quietly said, "I think he might be telling the truth."
"Huh?"
Ayumi and Mitsuhiko were a bit confused. "But how could he be chased by a killer?"
"Maybe he stumbled upon a crime scene or something?"
Fujino pondered. "Tokyo has a high crime rate. If he happened to encounter a murder scene and the culprit took notice, it's not impossible."
"Then he's in danger right now?!"
Mitsuhiko and Ayumi clearly listened to Fujino. After a surprised exclamation, they quickly chased after Genta.
"How is that possible... In a huge city like Tokyo, how could just any elementary school student stumble upon a crime scene and then be hunted down?"
Conan, following behind, was drenched in sweat. He muttered to himself, "Fujino is way too sensitive. Does he have some kind of persecution complex?"
Haibara Ai walked beside him and heard Conan's muttering. She glanced at him, then calmly stated, "I don't think Kojima is lying."
"Huh?"
Conan was startled. "Did you notice something? Tell me more..."
Haibara Ai shook her head and retorted expressionlessly, "Don't you run into murder cases all the time?"
Conan: "..."
How could that be the same?! He was a high school student, for crying out loud!
Conan's face darkened. He took a deep breath, then leaned in with a strange grin, "Are you perhaps defending Fujino?"
"Am I not stating a fact?"
Haibara Ai looked at Conan as if he were an idiot.
Don't you have any idea how often you encounter murder cases yourself?
Conan: "..."
This sharp-tongued woman was too venomous! He couldn't even refute her!
Near Teitan Elementary School
"Wait, Genta, can you tell us what's going on?"
"We were wrong just now, we definitely won't make fun of you this time!"
"Genta, if you think you're being hunted, something must have happened, right?"
Mitsuhiko and Ayumi caught up, awkwardly smiling. Conan, who had been left speechless behind them, also felt a bit embarrassed and joined the two in asking questions.
Genta, with his hands in his pockets, saw that everyone was serious. He lowered his head and explained in a deep voice, "Actually, this morning, when I was walking to school and passing by the train tracks, I heard strange footsteps. It was very dark in there, and I couldn't see clearly, but I could hear them! When I stopped, they stopped, and when I ran, they ran too!"
Everyone fell silent.
Conan's brow twitched. He felt that it wasn't him, but Genta who had a persecution complex.
"Those must have been your own footsteps, right?"
Having promised not to laugh at Genta, Mitsuhiko could only awkwardly explain, "You were in the tunnel at the time. Your footsteps bouncing off the walls would have that effect."
"It's not just that!"
Genta suddenly became agitated. "A few days ago, on the pedestrian bridge, someone pushed me, and just last night, I almost got hit by a motorcycle!"
Fujino: "..."
Are you sure the assassination organization isn't E.T.O.?
"Genta, are you scared because of those things?"
Ayumi showed a gentle, childlike smile and comforted him, "Those must have been just coincidences!"
"Absolutely not coincidences!"
Genta retorted in annoyance, then, still a bit shaken, said, "Just a few days ago, he even called me and said, 'If you tell anyone what you saw, no one around you will live!'"
"Huh?!"
Everyone was surprised. Clearly, the explanation of being threatened by a criminal had made the usually skeptical kids believe almost entirely.
"Ding!"
At that moment, a crisp sound suddenly rang out.
Fujino was startled by the sound, thinking he had triggered some kind of system mission.
However, he was also the first to react, looking to the side, where he saw a huge screw lying on the ground.
"A screw?"
Mitsuhiko couldn't help but complain, "That's way too dangerous! Where did it fall from?"
"Above..."
Fujino crushed the advanced strength enhancement card in his pocket, looked up, and saw a large, uppercase R-shaped neon sign detaching from the department store next to them, plummeting directly towards them.
Well, it wasn't the King of Eel, nor was it E.T.O., it was you! The Rocket Team, soaring through the galaxy! They've stopped catching Pikachu and started catching the King of Eel, have they?
Fujino's mind raced with possibilities. He then pulled out his wooden sword from behind him, leaped into the air, and violently smashed the large R onto the street in front of them.
"Boom!"
The neon sign, split in half down the middle, crashed into the stone pavement, letting out a massive roar.
The kids, who had been hiding behind him and avoided being hit, stood frozen and trembling.
As for whether they were more afraid of the neon sign or Fujino, that remained unknown.
Conan looked at the neon sign, which was split down the middle and even had its steel back panel broken, then looked at Fujino. He couldn't help but shiver slightly, "Fujino... that guy's getting scarier and scarier..."