By the time Ran stormed toward them, Ryuji and Eri were already seated.
"One orange juice, please. And… is there anything you don't eat?"
Eri glanced at Ryuji with gentle consideration as she asked. Ryuji quickly noticed the detail: she had ordered juice from the start. That was an unspoken refusal to let things go any further.
The reason was simple. Alcohol created opportunities if someone slipped, they could always blame it on being drunk. But fruit juice didn't leave that excuse.
Not that Ryuji had intended to make a move on Eri anyway. Watching Detective Conan, he had always thought Eri and Kogoro were one of the quirkiest couples constantly showing off, yet in their own dysfunctional way, still loving each other. They hadn't even filed for divorce. To Ryuji, they were well outside his "strike zone." A little harmless flirting and the chance to admire her beauty was fine, but actually crossing that line?
Ryuji figured it might be better to just wait for Kogoro to die from an overdose of sedatives, and then slip in to take advantage of the situation.
And why would Kogoro overdose on sedatives?
Well, anesthetics were technically a kind of psychiatric drug, after all.
"No, not at all. Since a stunning beauty like you is treating me," Ryuji said with a casual grin, "I won't order a thing. I'll just sit back and enjoy the happiness of being treated by such a gorgeous woman."
Ryuji spread his hands in mock helplessness, playing the role of a shameless flirt.
And of course, he was shamelessly flirtatious by nature.
"You really are something…"
Eri chuckled, shaking her head. She ordered a steak, lobster, and a few other dishes some she liked, and some she thought he might enjoy. Then she leaned back and teased him:
"Aren't you afraid I'll get angry and make you pay the bill instead?"
She was growing more amused by him with every minute, so she prodded him with a playful smile. Ryuji only shrugged an affectation he didn't actually like, but it suited the roguish mask he was wearing.
"Well, in that case, I guess I'll have to sell myself to this ship as a waiter. But if all the guests were as beautiful as you, maybe life wouldn't be so bad."
Eri laughed softly. He was flattering her constantly, but always with just the right balance not too much, never too little. Pleasant, but… wasn't he revealing how experienced he was with women?
Her gaze sharpened slightly. Ryuji hadn't overstepped even once, but she had already decided this was more than enough. All she needed was to walk back into the casino later with his arm linked through hers, right in front of Kogoro that would sting him plenty.
"You really do know how to flatter."
She wasn't planning to linger on the topic, but the next moment Ryuji spoke again.
"Still… I can't help being envious."
"Envious?"
Eri blinked.
"That husband of yours imagine, having a wife like you. But I am curious… how does a love like yours end up at odds?"
The waiter returned with their juice. Ryuji poured for her first before filling his own glass.
Eri's expression dimmed at his question. She and Kogoro had cared for each other since they were young, but whenever they were together, arguments inevitably followed.
He was lazy, messy, and flirtatious. She was disciplined and disliked sloppiness. On paper they seemed complementary, but in reality, it only bred resentment.
Yes, they still cared for each other deeply. But living together? They'd start bickering within days, until she couldn't take it anymore and left.
"Because love and daily life aren't the same thing, little brother. Sometimes you can't tell if what you've got is a joyful romance or a cursed bond."
Her sigh carried the weight of years. To her, their relationship felt like fate's cruel joke: mutual affection that couldn't survive under the same roof.
She would never abandon her career for the sake of supporting Kogoro. And Kogoro, despite his occasional reliability in crises, was too careless and lazy for everyday life. Life couldn't be built on just the rare 'key moments.'
As a lawyer, she knew all too well the harsh rigidity of Japan's class system. For them to thrive, at least one of them had to rise into the upper strata. If Kogoro had stayed on track to become an inspector, she could have relaxed a little. If she rose to run her own law firm, he could have leaned on her success.
Both of their families had noble roots. If they climbed back into the upper-middle class, resources would follow. In fact, even now, if Kogoro simply returned to the police force, his career would smooth itself out.
But the idiot had thrown it all away for her. Because she had once been put in danger, he gave up his promising career. The future she had painstakingly mapped out for them crumbled. She was forced to work harder than ever, shouldering everything alone.
Did he think it was easy for a woman to carve out a career on her own?
And the worst of it she had once cooked for him while limping on an injured leg, and he'd told her the food tasted awful.
Yes, she knew he'd said it out of concern, trying to keep her from hurting herself further… but still, it was unforgivable.
As Eri recalled these things, her face betrayed every flicker of emotion. Ryuji read it easily, confirming his conclusion.
Eri wasn't someone he could "conquer."
Not now. Not while she still loved her husband.
A bond like theirs couldn't be broken by seduction. Their affection was real, their frustrations were real and both sprang from that same affection.
Breaking them apart was impossible. Their relationship would collapse or reconcile in an instant, but it wouldn't be because of him.
"Damn… I really miss Shampoo."
Ryuji sipped his juice, a pang of longing hitting him.
No, he didn't intend anything with Eri. But faced with such an alluring, graceful woman, it was impossible for his to not have thoughts. Especially since he genuinely admired her personality.
"What a shame she's married…"
The thought had barely crossed his mind when, in the very next instant, a burst of youthful energy slipped between them.
A girl dropped into the seat at Eri's side, wrapping her arms tightly around her mother's and speaking up the moment she sat down—
"Mom, who is this guy?"
Ran glared at Ryuji as though he were her mortal enemy. And in her mind, that wasn't wrong after all, this man clearly wanted to take her father's place!
Eri blinked at her daughter's fierce expression, then quickly realized what was going through Ran's head. Her face flushed red in embarrassment. She knew Ran was worried that she might do something improper with Ryuji.
Ryuji, of course, gave her a teasing look, which only made Eri swat her daughter on the head. She and Ryuji broke into laughter together.
"You silly girl," Eri chided. "What nonsense are you imagining?"
Caught between their laughter, Ran stood frozen in confusion. She could tell her mother had seen right through her, but she couldn't understand why the two of them found it funny.
Had their relationship already reached that point?!
Ran's thoughts spun in circles. Watching from a short distance, Conan who had followed her quietly twitched his mouth in exasperation. He realized Ran had just been played for a fool, so he quietly turned around and left before he could be dragged into the mess as a punching bag.
With Eri's explanation, Ran finally understood the misunderstanding. Her cheeks flushed crimson, and she bowed deeply to Ryuji.
"I'm sorry, Mister. That was my mistake."
Ryuji chuckled softly. He honestly found the whole thing amusing. Every now and then, playing at fake flirtation without the goal of ending up in bed had its own charm. It was like watching drama unfold, except he was the one stirring the pot.
And besides, when the "melon" was one you grew yourself, it was even juicier to enjoy.
Still, it was just a diversion. He preferred things to be straightforward. And in this case, since Eri wasn't formally divorced from Kogoro, this was the furthest line he'd cross.
Otherwise, well… she might already have been pushed to climax by now.
"No harm done. This was partly my fault anyway," Ryuji said with an easy smile, then raised a hand. "Waiter, another steak, please."
Sharing a meal with a beautiful woman was its own kind of pleasure, and he didn't mind Ran tagging along at the table.
Ran, meanwhile, felt deeply awkward and more than a little curious.
After all, it wasn't often she saw a man who could resist her mother's beauty, see straight through a situation, and still make her laugh like this.
"Um… thank you…"
The words felt strange on Ran's tongue. Her mother was the one paying, yet here she was, thanking Ryuji. It left her with a faint sense of defeat.
Still, with her mother's "crisis" behind them, and reassured that Eri still loved her father, Ran allowed herself to breathe easier. Ryuji hadn't crossed any lines, and that was enough.
Eri, on the other hand, was reminded of her daughter's rebellious streak. She found her thoughts drifting to the one person Ran cared most about her childhood friend, Shinichi Kudo.
"By the way, Ran," Eri asked casually, "has Shinichi still not contacted you?"
She had no intention of introducing Ryuji to her daughter this was her first time meeting him herself, after all, and she wasn't about to trust a man who clearly knew how to handle women far too well. But since Shinichi came to mind, she brought it up.
"This… um… well…" Ran stammered, unable to meet her mother's eyes. She knew Eri had never approved of Shinichi, but she didn't want to hear her mother criticize him either.
"Hah. Tell me, are you two really dating? Even if he's busy with cases, shouldn't he at least say when it'll all be over? Does he expect you to wait forever?!"
The thought of Shinichi made Eri's temper flare. It wasn't just that he was her daughter's childhood friend, which raised the risk of history repeating itself. It was the deeper problem Ran and Shinichi had no common ground.
Shinichi was consumed by cases. To him, solving mysteries was everything an endless pursuit of truth, driven less by fame or recognition than by pure obsession.
That kind of man was terrifying in everyday life. As a wife, Ran would never be able to hide anything from him. Every little secret, every choice she made he'd instinctively dig, dissect, and adjust until she had nothing left to herself.
That wasn't a marriage. That was living under constant surveillance.
Eri knew it might partly stem from her own divorce, from Ran growing up with a lazy, flawed father and missing a strong male role model. But even so, a life with Shinichi would trap Ran in the same cycle she herself had endured.
Ran didn't even like cases. The only reason she tolerated them was because of her father. Her feelings for Shinichi were likely born of childhood ties, admiration for his brilliance as a detective, and perhaps a lack of any better choice.
But love for solving cases? No. If anything, Ran hated them.
Her mother, Eri Kisaki, worked as a lawyer, which meant she was always busy with investigations. That work took away the time she could have spent with her daughter.
Her father loved cases, but because he was a second-rate detective, he often made mistakes and ended up embarrassing himself.
Her childhood friend loved cases too, but for the sake of a case, he would ignore her without hesitation.
With a life surrounded by such people, how could she possibly enjoy investigations?
Later, because of family circumstances, she had to shoulder responsibility herself, which only made her long for a stable home all the more and deepened her dislike of cases.
And yet, everyone around her was somehow tied to them.
That was why she could never truly love a man who was completely consumed by mysteries. The only reason she liked Shinichi Kudo was because…
Eri gently stroked her daughter's hair with pity in her eyes.
…because Shinichi was, in a sense, the "perfect Kogoro Mouri."
He was responsible, but not reckless. Disciplined in life, with no bad habits. Every case in his hands found resolution, and he was even hailed as a savior by the Japanese police.
In every way, Shinichi was Kogoro's opposite. A perfected version of the man.
And how could her daughter not wish for such a husband?
People spend their whole lives trying to make up for what they lost in childhood. Perhaps it was an extreme thought, but in Eri's heart, it rang true.
Ryuji, meanwhile, sensed the delicate tension between mother and daughter. He realized Eri was in no mood to argue with Kogoro after this, not when her heart was weighed down like this. So he quickly finished off his steak, intending to excuse himself.
But just as he wiped his mouth—
BANG!
A gunshot split the air.
"...?"
Ryuji froze. In the original plot, the attack wasn't supposed to happen until they reached international waters. They shouldn't have been there yet, right?
Even as the thought flashed through his mind, he caught sight through the restaurant's windows of multiple speedboats pulling alongside the ship—and a man who looked exactly like Colonel MacDonald from the movie.
And then—
The ship's intercom crackled to life.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now officially in international waters. Please remain calm. From this moment on, if anything happens, we take no responsibility!"
The shot had left the cruise ship stunned into silence but the announcement turned that silence into chaos. Screams erupted everywhere. Even Eri and Ran stiffened, their bodies trembling.
Ryuji, however, frowned.
"That doesn't make sense… what's the local defense force doing?"
Instinctively, he stepped in front of Eri and Ran, shielding them with his body.
Eri gritted her teeth, fury flashing in her eyes.
"Damn it! They said security would be handled by a Hong Kong–Japanese company, that there wouldn't be interference from the China… and this is the result?!"
Her voice shook with anger. Not knowing the local system well, she had chosen a cruise run by this joint company because it advertised a "special license" to sail freely without China's oversight, so long as passengers carried no contraband.
The captain, the crew, even the servers were all Japanese or from Hong Kong. Not a single local.
That was why they had chosen it out of ignorance.
And now, the consequences were clear.
Ryuji sighed. He had wondered why homeland's security seemed so lax but of course, it wasn't theirs at all.
"No wonder it's this bad… useless clowns who want to play big shot."
He couldn't help but curse inwardly. If the ship had been under China's rules, there was no way they'd have ended up dragged into international waters like this.
"Stay close to me, Miss Eri, Miss Ran," Ryuji said calmly. "The shot came from the casino. We should return to your cabin for now. Those terrorists won't have the manpower to search the whole vessel thoroughly. I also need to find my companion to make sure she's safe."
He was sure of it. And besides Misato was still fast asleep. The woman was out like a log. If it weren't for him, she'd probably wake up only to discover whether she was pregnant.
"N-no… Kogoro…"
Eri's eyes flicked toward the casino. She wanted to protest but when she looked at her daughter, she clenched her teeth and nodded at Ryuji.
"All right, Mr. Ryuji. Let's ensure our own safety first."
She was worried for her husband, yes but her daughter's life was more important.
~~~~~~~~~~
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