He only cared about how Ran felt; what others thought was beyond his concern.
"You… never mind."
Ran didn't quite know what to say to Shinichi, and ultimately, she gave up on the idea, feeling too tired to talk.
"Don't be angry."
Shinichi smiled at Ran: "Aren't you going to eat anymore?"
"No… I'm already full."
Ran said, sounding annoyed.
The worst thing is comparison.
If there were no comparison, Ran wouldn't have so many complaints about Shinichi; after all, he'd been like this since childhood, and she was used to it.
However, once a comparison exists, a distinction between high and low inevitably arises.
Therefore, Ran subconsciously compared Shinichi and Lin Yi, reaching a conclusion: disappointment.
She thought: How wonderful it would be if Shinichi could be as mature as Lin Yi…
After the meal, Shinichi and Ran left the restaurant and walked outside.
"Where to next?" Ran asked.
Shinichi hadn't expected to have time alone with Ran, and he had no plan in mind. He scratched his head and said, "How about… just walking around?"
"Okay," Ran nodded in agreement.
As they walked along the crowded street, Shinichi felt very relaxed.
He had previously thought that the cocky transfer student was after Ran, which gave Shinichi a very strong sense of crisis and even made him consider confessing his feelings directly.
But after discovering that the other person was interested in Sonoko, Shinichi's sense of crisis immediately disappeared, and his idea of confessing faded away as well.
Shinichi kept chatting with Ran about what had happened to him recently, such as helping Yamamoto and his classmates in the neighboring class play soccer.
It would have been better if Shinichi hadn't mentioned it, because it reminded Ran of the bento she had made herself, which was out before it even got a chance to be delivered.
After bringing up this old issue, Ran started to get angry.
Perhaps because they weren't eating anymore, Shinichi finally noticed that Ran's expression was a bit off.
"What's wrong, Ran? Are you feeling unwell?" Shinichi asked with concern.
"No," Ran huffed. The tone and expression made it seem like she was saying, 'I'm very angry.'
Shinichi was completely confused. What had he done wrong this time?
He didn't seem to have said anything he shouldn't have, did he?
"But… you look… like you're angry," Shinichi said cautiously.
"Yes, that's right," Ran stopped walking, nodded, and said, "I said I'm angry!"
"Then… why are you angry?" Shinichi was somewhat baffled.
"What do you think?"
Hearing Shinichi ask this, Ran became even angrier!
She felt so stupid. Shinichi didn't even know why she was angry; she was just getting angry for nothing!
The more she thought about it, the angrier Ran became!
"… … … …"
Shinichi felt a bit of a headache. He thought of something and then said cautiously, "Is it because I made you wait so long this afternoon… that made you angry?"
"Forget it, I'm tired. I'm going back!"
Ran tossed her head, not wanting to pay attention to Shinichi anymore. He didn't understand what she was thinking at all; there was no way to communicate!
"Hey… hey… Ran, I was wrong."
Shinichi hurriedly caught up, apologizing and admitting his mistake.
"What were you wrong about?"
"It's just that… I shouldn't have done that."
"Specifically, what thing?"
"Um… um… it's just… it's just… … … …"
"You don't even know what you did wrong. Your apology isn't sincere at all!"
Shinichi wanted to follow, but Ran stopped him.
"Don't follow me! I want to go back by myself!!"
After stopping Shinichi from following, Ran raised her hand, hailed a taxi, and got in.
Shinichi watched the taxi drive away with a blank expression. He frantically scratched his head: "What did I do wrong?"
After thinking seriously, Shinichi slammed his palm into his other hand, suddenly realizing: "If it wasn't about this afternoon… then it must have been the murder case we talked about at the dinner table just now!"
Chapter 34
"I'm back…"
Ran said weakly as she passed by the second-floor detective agency.
"You're back… How was the art museum this afternoon?"
Kogoro Mouri greeted Ran before continuing to watch Yoko Okino's TV show.
"Not good…"
Ran collapsed onto the sofa, feeling very depressed: "We ran into a murder case at the art museum. Even if a murder case happened, wouldn't it be fine to leave it to the police to investigate? Why does Shinichi have to interfere…"
"Tch."
Kogoro Mouri thought it was something important. He said nonchalantly, "So what was the result? Was the murder case solved?"
"It was solved… but that's not the point, okay?"
--+--
T/N: Although I'm an inexperienced Editor, I do have a Patreon account! Although it seems like I don't have many supporters right now, my webnovel will be released in full every day, and the advanced chapters will be uploaded to Patreon.
It may not be worth it now, but who knows, it might be different in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/Greyhounds
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