We parked the car and went inside the mansion. Then a large, sturdy-looking man who seed to be the butler ca out and greeted us.
"Butler, good to see you."
"Oh~ You're here. And Master Jin has co as well. What brings you here today?"
Heiji and the butler seed to already know each other.
"It's been a while. Well, you see, I'm friends with Heiji. He said he was coming to Tokyo for a wedding, so I ca along to show him around Tokyo."
"Ah~ I see. Then since you're here, please have a al before you go. The chairman will be pleased."
Then Heiji also recomnded it to .
"Yeah, eat before you go. It's a bit of a distance from here to your place."
I looked at Ran and Conan. Ran nodded slightly, but Conan turned his head away sharply. Of course, I ignored Conan's opinion.
"Then we'll accept your kind offer."
And so we were invited to a al and ate together with the chairman's family. But I kept a serious face and kept looking around. It was acting, to resolve this episode quickly.
In the evening, all the household staff had gone ho, so there would be no one to prepare Haibara's dinner, and I also wanted to prevent anyone from dying for strange and trivial reasons. I wanted to handle it quickly and go ho. Seeing this, the chairman asked .
"Master Jin, is sothing uncomfortable?"
"An ill fortune is approaching this house right now. If left alone, the chairman's reputation will fall, and your fortune will be cut in half. If it ended there, it would be fortunate, but people could also die. So I am looking for the source of that ill fortune."
Everyone seed shocked by my words.
"What! Is that true?"
"Yes. It's very regrettable to bring this up the day before the wedding, but it's true. I'm sorry to do this during the al, but may I perform a divination…"
The chairman was a regular client of mine, so of course he didn't refuse. Every divination I had done for him had been correct, so he didn't doubt at all.
"I leave it to you. Please find the cause."
I moved the food in front of aside for a mont, got so rice, and threw it forward. Then I looked at it and began to contemplate seriously.
"Hmm… Sothing that shouldn't be in this house is entering. It's a person… Have you by any chance hired any new servants or staff?"
"No, I haven't."
"Then there's only one such person."
I imdiately pointed to the young woman about to be married, Katagiri Kaede. The chairman and everyone else seed very shocked. Kaede herself was also very flustered.
"Th-Then are you saying Kaede is a bundle of misfortune?"
"I'll need to look further to know that. If it's not too rude, may I take a closer look?"
When I asked Kaede, she nodded slightly, though flustered. I imdiately placed my hand on Kaede's head and checked.
"Ah! Now I understand."
"Tell quickly."
The chairman urged , having heard that people might die.
"This young woman is not a bundle of misfortune. That man is the one bringing the ill fortune."
This ti I pointed to the groom-to-be, the chairman's eldest son, Morizono Kikuhito.
"Wh-What??? I don't understand at all. Can you explain in detail?"
"Yes. These two are not fated to marry. Yet they are forcing a connection. In such a case, not only will they have difficulty having a proper married life, but misfortune will accumulate, and eventually one of them will develop ntal illness, or in the worst case, soone may die. And it doesn't end there. That misfortune will affect those around them as well."
"I-Is that true?"
"Yes. I haven't properly examined your eldest son Kikuhito yet, but this young woman will either endure great suffering and eventually leave this mansion to find her destined partner, or she will die in this mansion. Those are the only two possibilities."
"That can't be…"
"And this marriage is not what Kaede wanted. Isn't that right?"
When I asked Kaede, she said with tears in her eyes.
"No… You're right. Pressure was put on my company, and I was forced into this marriage."
Then the chairman stood up from his seat with a surprised expression and said.
"What! Is that true!"
"Yes…"
From the situation, it seed the chairman had known nothing about it. It was all orchestrated by his eldest son, who was about to be married.
"What is the aning of this…"
Then the butler of the mansion, Shigematsu Akio, bowed his head to the chairman and begged for forgiveness.
"I'm sorry, Chairman. This is all my fault. I thought the young lady kept coming to the house because she liked the young master, so I arranged the marriage, but in fact, she had feelings for Sakuraba Yuji, who works here. I learned the truth and told the young master, but he couldn't give up on her, and he committed the act of pressuring her company to make the marriage happen."
Hearing the butler's story, the chairman let out a deep sigh.
"Haah… I can't believe it…"
"I'm sorry. It's all my fault for arranging the marriage without properly knowing the circumstances."
The chairman, as if his head hurt, pressed his forehead, then looked at his son and spoke angrily.
"Call off this marriage. And you, co with ! Butler, please make sure the guests can finish their al."
"Yes, Chairman."
The chairman and his son went to another room with serious expressions. We resud eating, but no one could eat properly in such an atmosphere. Then Kaede ca to in tears, bowed her head, and greeted .
"If it weren't for you, Master Jin, I would have suffered greatly by entering a marriage I didn't want. Thank you so much."
"Not at all. Even this outco is probably Heaven's will. Fate is not sothing that can be changed easily. I hope you find your destined partner and live happily from now on."
"Thank you."
In this episode, the butler Akio realized his mistake and tried to stop the marriage by telling the chairman about the eldest son's wrongdoings, but the eldest son wouldn't accept it. He killed the butler and then tried to fra Sakuraba Yuji, the man Kaede loved.
"Wow~ Fate is really scary."
"I know, right."
Heiji and Kazuha, who had witnessed the incident, spoke as if fascinated.
"Right. Fate cannot be easily broken by anyone trying to stop it. So you two are destined to get married in the end. Because you're fated partners."
At that, Heiji and Kazuha blushed and looked very embarrassed.
"I-Is that so... Then the sa must be true for Ran and Jin, right?"
"Yes. Ran and I are destined to get married. No matter how far apart fated partners are, no matter who tries to interfere, they are drawn to each other like magnets."
Hearing that, Conan scowled and gritted his teeth, while Ran looked embarrassed.
"Oh, honestly, Jin..."
Hearing that, Kazuha said.
"That's kind of romantic. But in a way, it's also scary. If fate is predetermined, then our very lives are already set."
"Now that you ntion it, that's true. So Jin, can you see everyone's fate?"
Heiji asked , having heard Kazuha's words.
"No. I can't know everyone's fate. I can only glimpse a little. If there were soone who knew all fates, that would be God."
"I suppose that's true."
We finished eating and rested for a while. Then the chairman, seeming to have finished talking with his son, ca to and said.
"Thank you. If it weren't for you, things would have beco very serious. This ti it was an unintentional divination, but since you prevented a major disaster, I will reward you well."
"Thank you."
"And since it's late today, please rest here."
The chairman invited us to stay the night, but I had to make dinner for Haibara.
"Ah, no thank you. I have my younger sister alone at ho."
"Ah, Ai-chan. I see. If that's the reason, it can't be helped. At any rate, thank you."
Since the chairman also knew Haibara, it seed she had beco quite famous within Japan as well.
At any rate, Ran, Conan, and I got back in the car and headed ho, but suddenly Heiji and Kazuha also got in.
"Huh? Weren't you two staying the night at the mansion?"
"Well, you see, the wedding was canceled and the atmosphere there was a bit uncomfortable. So let us stay over. Anyway, your house has plenty of empty rooms, doesn't it, Jin?"
"I guess it can't be helped. Fine, I'll let you stay."
"Thanks~"
We took Ran and Conan ho first, then arrived at my house. Kazuha admired.
"Wow~ Jin's house is huge too."
"Let's go in first. My sister will be waiting."
"You an Ai-chan? I've wanted to see her too. Ai-chan is very popular."
We went inside the house, and Haibara glared at .
"You're late! I'm hungry. And who are these people?"
Haibara was getting increasingly prickly.
"Ah, sothing ca up. These are guests who will stay over tonight. They're the ones from the double date."
"Ah~ Then the famous young detective from Osaka, Hattori Heiji?"
"Right, Hattori Heiji and his girlfriend, Toyama Kazuha."
When I introduced them, Kazuha suddenly hugged Haibara tightly and said.
"You're so cute~ This big sister is Kazuha. Let's get along, Ai-chan~"
"Ugh... can't breathe... let go..."
"Ah, sorry. You're just so cute I couldn't help it."
Haibara was indeed cute. I understood why everyone acted like that. At any rate, Heiji also greeted Haibara.
"Nice to et you. I'm Heiji."
"O-Okay. Nice to et you."
Since Haibara was hungry, I imdiately headed to the kitchen and asked them.
"I need to make dinner for my sister. Do you guys want so too?"
"Sure. Honestly, we couldn't eat properly there because of the atmosphere."
"Got it."
I decided to cheer up Haibara as well, so I brought out a grill plate and grilled so samgyeopsal (pork belly).
"Wow~ Delicious. This is Korean food, samgyeopsal, right?"
Kazuha knew samgyeopsal.
"Oh, yes?"
"Of course I know. These days, a lot of Korean food is coming into Osaka too."
"I see. Well, I'm glad it's tasty."
Even though they had eaten a little already, they ate very well, so I brought out a few more pieces of at and grilled them.
"Ugh~ I'm full. I must have eaten too much... As expected, whenever I co to Jin's house, I eat a lot. I ate a ton last ti I ca too."
Heiji really ate a lot.
"I ate a lot too. I'm worried I'll gain weight."
Kazuha too, and Haibara also seed to have enjoyed her al.
We rested a bit, then spent ti playing card gas, and after washing up, I put them in a spare room to sleep. The next day, I took them to the station. Haibara ca along too, perhaps because she was bored.
"Well then, see you later. See you later, Ai-chan~"
"See you later~"
I sent off Heiji and Kazuha and was about to go ho when suddenly Haibara said to .
"I want to go sowhere too. I'm suffocating staying at ho every day."
Certainly, Haibara had no friends, and with vacation started, she was bound to be bored.
"Is there anywhere you want to go?"
"Hmm... I'd like the zoo."
"Okay. Then let's go to Ueno Zoo. They have pandas there."
"Okay."
But there was one thing I hadn't considered. Ueno Zoo has no parking lot nearby, and it's located inside Ueno Park, so you have to walk quite a bit. We had to park the car and walk a long way.
"Ugh... my legs hurt..."
As expected, Haibara was struggling.
"Co here. I'll give you a piggyback ride."
"Wh-What are you saying, you pervert!"
"Then just walk."
"Ugh... fine."
I lifted Haibara up onto my shoulders for a piggyback ride and started walking again. Haibara's face turned red, and she beca quietly silent. Then, as we entered the park area where there were many people, so people recognized us.
"Wow~ It's the real-life siblings! To see the real-life siblings from the comrcial here."
"But they're closer than I thought. The big brother is even giving his little sister a piggyback ride."
"I know, right. I thought they'd be glaring at each other in a bloody battle every day."
I have no idea what these people are talking about. At any rate, I gave so autographs to people who asked, and we looked around the zoo. Of course, I kept Haibara on my shoulders the whole ti.
"Wow~ Pandas are cute. But they just keep eating."
"Well, for them, eating and sleeping is their job. Bamboo isn't that nutritious, so they have to eat a lot."
"I see. Now let's go over there."
"Okay."
We looked around for about two more hours, then decided to eat shaved ice. Japanese shaved ice is cheaper than Korean patbingsu, but it's just shaved ice with syrup poured on top. It felt a bit lacking, but I ate it anyway.
'Has Sulbing not co to Japan yet? I want so lon bingsu...'
Next ti, I should visit Korea. I could buy one of each Sulbing nu and copy them with my [Matter Copy] ability to eat them forever.
"What are you thinking so hard about?"
"Oh, nothing... just that it feels lacking with just syrup on shaved ice."
"Shaved ice is always like that. Then let's stop by Baskin Robbins on the way back and buy so ice cream."
"Okay, let's do that. It's sumr anyway. We should at least have ice cream in the fridge."
"Right, we should at least have ice cream."
We bought ice cream on the way down and returned ho. Haibara's expression was much brighter, as if she had enjoyed her day.
And so several days passed. There were no special incidents. I continued handling Onmyōji work and TV appearances with Haibara, and sotis stopped by the Mori Detective Agency to hang out with Ran. Then one day, I got a call from Sonoko.
· Why don't we go to the Izu beach this ti? Ran said she'd co too.
"Oh~ Really? Of course I'll go. But can I bring Haibara too?"
· Of course! Ran will probably bring Conan too, right?
"I suppose so. Okay, I'll get ready."
I told Haibara the news.
"I don't have a swimsuit..."
"Then let's go buy one."
We drove to a swimsuit store. But for children's swimsuits, due to hygiene issues, you couldn't try them on. So we asured her size and bought a few in styles that Haibara liked. We also bought sandals to wear at the beach.
"Hoo… I bought ones that are okay, but there wasn't a single one I truly liked."
"It can't be helped. By adult standards, children's swimsuit designs are a bit lacking."
Haibara grumbled all day. Honestly, even I thought the designs were too childish. So in the end, I had no choice but to choose products for children who swim competitively.
Finally, the day arrived. I loaded the water play equipnt into the trunk of the Wrangler, picked up Sonoko, Ran, and Conan, and set off for Izu Beach.
'Finally, I'll get to et Kyogoku Makoto.'
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