-----
-----
Mikacho Town, 2-Chome, 22-Banchi.
"Shinichi."
"Check out my latest invention!"
Professor Agasa walked over to Kudo Shinichi with a bright smile, holding a red, specially-designed bowtie in his hand.
"Oh."
Shinichi remained indifferent. Just by looking at it, he couldn't figure out what this so-called invention was supposed to do.
Right now, only one thing occupied his mind: finding a way to turn back into Kudo Shinichi.
"Shinichi."
"How have you been lately?"
A sudden voice from behind made Shinichi freeze. He instinctively turned his head and blurted out,
"Dad, why are you—"
But as soon as he saw Professor Agasa's goofy grin, he swallowed the rest of his sentence.
At the same time…
He noticed the red bowtie near Agasa's mouth.
"Professor."
"Is this…?"
Shinichi immediately understood. Agasa had just used the bowtie to imitate his father's voice.
"Hahaha—"
"This is my latest invention—the Bowtie Voice Changer!"
"You can adjust the dial on the back to mimic anyone's voice."
Professor Agasa was beyond pleased, not just because his invention was successful, but because it had even managed to fool the sharp-minded Kudo Shinichi.
"Professor."
"That means this bowtie can also make me sound like myself, right?"
Shinichi, thrilled, jumped down from the balcony and rushed to Agasa, his gratitude overflowing.
He knew this invention was made just for him.
"Your voice is…"
Agasa adjusted the dial on the back, tuning it to match Kudo Shinichi's 18-year-old voice.
"Professor!"
Shinichi's heartbeat quickened.
It was his voice!
To be exact, it was his 18-year-old voice.
He had to admit—sometimes, Agasa's inventions were actually useful.
"Hehehe—"
"With this, you can temporarily use your real voice."
"It might come in handy."
Shinichi nodded firmly.
This was incredibly useful!
Now, with the bowtie voice changer, he could return to being Kudo Shinichi—at least when no one was looking.
"Professor."
"Where's my phone?"
After searching for a while, Shinichi finally found his phone on the sofa.
Hmm…
Ever since he was poisoned by those mysterious men in black and shrunk into a child's body, his phone had been turned off. He was afraid that if someone called him, it would expose his situation.
If that happened…
The danger wouldn't just be his alone.
At that moment—
Shinichi turned on his phone for the first time in half a month.
Hmm…
His mom didn't call him. His dad didn't call him either.
"WHAT???"
Why didn't Ran call him?
The last time he, as Edogawa Conan, tried to stay at the Mouri Detective Agency, she rejected him
outright.
After analyzing it, he figured Ran must've been too worried about him, which was why she seemed so distracted at the time.
"She should've been blowing up my phone!"
But to his surprise…
Not only had his phone not been flooded with calls, but there wasn't even a single missed call or unread message.
Shinichi was stunned.
He had been "dead" for half a month, and no one cared?
"No way."
"There must be a reason for this."
Unable to accept the reality, Shinichi immediately dialed Mouri Ran's number.
"Beep—"
"Beep—"
"Beep—"
"..."
On the seventh ring, the call finally connected.
"Hello—"
"Ran!"
"It's me, Shinichi!"
The moment the call connected, Shinichi couldn't hold back his excitement.
"Oh…"
"Where have you been?"
"The teacher said you took a long leave and won't be coming back to Teitan High for a while."
Hearing her voice after so long should have lifted his spirits.
But…
Ran's voice was too calm.
So calm that he got the feeling she hadn't even wanted to answer his call.
It was like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over his excitement, making his heart feel
uneasy.
"Uh… yeah."
"I got caught up in a really tricky case overseas."
"Maybe…"
"I won't be back this semester."
"If things go smoothly, I might return to Teitan High tomorrow."
Shinichi couldn't give an exact time.
If he wanted to return, he needed to turn back into Kudo Shinichi first.
And right now…
He didn't even know who those two men in black were.
"Alright then."
"I have something to do, so I'll hang up now."
With that—
Shinichi felt like he had been struck by lightning.
Damn it???
She wanted to end the call already?
He had been missing for half a month! Even if it were a missing dog, people would be more
concerned!
"Ran…"
Her calm demeanor had completely thrown him off.
All the things he wanted to say were suddenly stuck in his throat.
"I'm dating someone now."
"If it's nothing important, don't call me again."
On the other end, Ran finally made it clear.
She had been keeping her relationship with Akira a secret from everyone.
But she needed to be honest with Shinichi.
Her message was loud and clear—
Don't contact her anymore. She didn't want Akira to misunderstand.
"Damn it???"
Shinichi froze on the spot.
At that moment—
The pain of his body shrinking felt like nothing compared to this.
"Beep, beep, beep—"
By the time he snapped out of it, Ran had already hung up.
"....."