And Nana was still being pestered by the little brats.
"Why?!" — shouted the three little brats in unison.
Why?!
Yaji had also asked this question before.
Come to think of it, they really hadn't gone out of their way to hide their relationship—if one were truly looking for it, they would definitely be able to find some clues.
However, the two had not publicly announced their relationship, since Yaji had not been a professional tennis player for very long, having only risen to prominence in the last year or two, not many people were paying attention.
So not many people had discovered it either.
So, in that case.. Niwang's popularity has soared after this legal case.. it probably won't be hidden for much longer.
Nana silently closed her eyes.
At first, she did not want to involve Yaji; however, after the previous attack, Yaji had become involved whether she liked it or not.
As for security.. she believes Yaji will not leak any secrets.
She also.. believed that Niwang Yaji was not an enemy.
So she concealed a portion of the important details, telling Yaji some of her life story in fragments.
Of course, she didn't snitch on Azhen.
Although his boyfriend still leaned towards calling the police after hearing this, once he learned that his girlfriend was currently living under an assumed name and that her true identity had officially died several years ago, he ultimately remained silent.
And silent support.
Several years had passed, her relationship with Yaji was no secret.. it was just..
Perhaps she was still hesitating.
Even she didn't know what she was hesitating about.
But these doubts that even she couldn't clarify herself.. how could she possibly speak of them to a few children she didn't even know.
So, she simply shook her head slightly. "A Secret."
It was a tactful refusal.
She did not see Niwang's eyes dim for a brief moment.
But she could guess it.
Wait a little longer.. just a little longer.
Wait until.. I have truly made my decision.
..
Completely devastated by the word 'Uncle,' the young police barely managed to recover. She magnanimously showed that he wouldn't lower herself to the level of a child, then continued to persuade her, "Are you alone? We can notify your family to come and pick you up. You can go home very soon."
The boy fell silent upon hearing that. He slowly lowered his head, just as the Gentleman thought his persuasion had taken effect, the boy replied in a low voice, devoid of any emotion:
“I don't have parents.”
"This.." Surprised by this unexpected reply, the Officer was momentarily at a loss for what to do; he looked at the Boy hesitantly, realizing he had said the wrong thing.
The Boy's lowered head and despondent mood declared his fault; Guilt surged into the Officer's heart in an instant. The Officer wanted to say something to ease the atmosphere, but he feared making the Boy even more sad.
For a moment, he was clumsy and hesitant, not knowing how to offer comfort.
God knows that as a grown man, he really had no experience in this!
For a moment, the two fell into a brief, mysterious silence.
“Also, aren't you going to stop him?” The little boy looked up, as if he had already hidden his sadness deep within his heart, asked in feigned confusion, “That Masked man just left, didn't he?”
"Wh.. What?!" The Officer, who had just been startled by the boy's voice, was suddenly jolted awake by the reminder. He straightened up and scanned the surroundings, searching every corner with meticulous care, refusing to let a single spot escape his gaze.
However, how could that man, who had escaped several minutes ago, have his tracks discovered by him?
The Officer finally had to admit his mistake; he let out a frustrated sigh, then prepared to report the matter to his Companion.
Before this—
Before the words "Little one, stay here and be good, don't run around" could even leave his mouth, the young police [female] was shocked to find that the boy who had been standing right beside her only half a minute ago had already run far away.
“??”
“!!”
Wait, little one! Don't run!
Are children these days really this clever? — This was a soul-searching question from the Officer who had been played.
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
..
The chaos over there did not disturb the small talk here.
Speaking of which, Niwang already has a girlfriend," Round Valley Mitsuhiko analyzed seriously. "Among Japan's most popular tennis rising stars, Niwang is the first to bid farewell to being single, right?
“Not at all~" Niwang smiled mischievously, revealing the news with the mindset of 'if I'm going down, everyone is going down' "Echizen also has a girlfriend.. My, my, it looks like Kirihara Akaya is the slowest one after all."
!!" Round Valley Mitsuhiko exclaimed in shock, "Is.. is it true?
Of course it is true.
Although she didn't mind playing a little trick on them, Yaji still knew where to draw the line; she didn't reveal who the girl was, instead said with a smile, "You can't tell anyone. You have to keep it a secret. Can you do that?"
“Don't worry!” The three little brats said with full confidence. “Our Detective Boys will definitely keep the secret.”
"Detective Boys?" Nana repeated in confusion.
"Exactly!" The Little brats declared with righteous indignation, each of them pulling a badge from their pocket to make a solemn and grand proclamation.
"I'm the Captain!" Kojima Genta added hurriedly.
"You just gave yourself that title.." Round Valley Mitsuhiko muttered under his breath.
The Child's boundless energy clearly affected adults. As a fellow "Detective," Nana curled her lips slightly, preparing to offer a few words of encouragement, only to hear the person beside her let out a sigh.
“??” She turned her head in confusion, looking at Yaji, whose mood seemed to have suddenly plummeted.
What's wrong?" Having just 'unintentionally' discouraged Yaji, Nana was clearly being somewhat cautious: "Are you.. alright?
Detective again.." Niwang clearly had a subtle, reflexive feeling toward this word: "Speaking of which, this word has been appearing quite frequently.
She stared straight at Nana.
“……” Nana didn't know how to respond for a moment; she gave a few dry laughs and blinked her eyes.
"So, do you like detectives?" she leaned closer to her boyfriend, asking in a low voice.
Her green eyes stared into her boyfriend's eyes, silently conveying her thoughts, Nana's gaze was equally suggestive.
Do you like me?
.." Niwang covered her eyes as if admitting defeat, she sighed, yet she had to admit, "I like you.
I love you.
..
Amidst a crowd that was chaotic yet relatively orderly, the masked Black-haired man—Akai Shuichi—slowly walked toward the edge of the flow of people.
Due to the previous minor incident involving the black-haired youth, the Officers were clearly more on guard, to the point that he could not leave without attracting attention.
It was a bit of a hassle, but it wasn't unsolvable.
But more importantly—
He took the mobile phone out of his pocket and sent two SMS messages to his Boss.
That's right.. the black-haired youth on the Tram just now was someone he could call an acquaintance.
A member of the Black Organization.
To him, although he couldn't compare to Gin, he was still quite impressive.
The black-haired black-eyed youth swept his gaze over with a cold, seemingly casual indifference; his taciturn manner was truly impressive.
However, he wasn't always that taciturn—there were always exceptions.
—And these exceptions were usually manifested when he was facing Gin.
Whenever he thought of the way the Black-haired youth looked at Gin, Akai Shuichi's mouth would twitch uncontrollably. At the same time, a strange and subtle sensation welled up in his chest.
With a movement of his Finger, the Screen interface displayed the sent icon.
Borse has appeared.
The plan has changed.
..
What broke the slightly ambiguous atmosphere was not the two of them's shaky conscience regarding "showing affection in front of a Child and corrupting her," but rather the "ding-dong" notification ringtone from Nana's mobile phone.
Nana lowered her head in embarrassment, averting her eyes with a hint of shyness, took her mobile phone out of her coat pocket, pressing the call button.
Kindaichi's voice struck another blow to the ambiguous atmosphere, the information contained in his words caused the pink bubbles floating in the air to vanish instantly.
“Hashimoto! Someone else has died!”
Nana!!
She subconsciously grew nervous, her grip on the mobile phone tightened so much that her knuckles turned slightly white.
What did you say?!
"Another Victim has appeared?!" She raised her eyes, a hint of sharpness in her gaze, as she asked again in a desperate attempt to confirm, though she had already lost much of her hope.
Because of her surprise, she could not control the volume of her voice, causing her unusual words to immediately attract the attention of many people.
At the very least, Conan's attention was instantly drawn away.
Seeing how the Detective, who had been so brave and reliable just ten minutes ago, suddenly became so agitated, Haibara couldn't help but give him a deadpan stare.
Hey, hey—at least try to keep yourself under control!
At the same time, Judy and Akai Shuichi also cast their gazes over.
At this moment, Nana had no heart to deal with these vague probes. She held her mobile phone with her left hand, pressing it against her left ear—she had to do this because of an issue with her right ear—a gesture that had already become a habit.