The next day at noon, Yuu Hoshimiya returned home after escorting Naeko Miike back to her apartment.
Her legs were still weak from their session, and he made sure to memorize her address for future visits.
With the Metropolitan Police Department effectively conquered, he noted that the remaining two beautiful female officers in his memory weren't currently in Tokyo.
I'll have to find an excuse to visit them soon...
As Yuu was lost in thought, the front door swung open.
"Teacher Hoshimiya! Ran! I'm here to play~"
Before the words had even finished echoing, a soft, supple body lunged forward and threw her arms around Yuu, planting a firm kiss on his cheek.
"Teacher Hoshimiya, I missed you so much!"
The newcomer was none other than the energetic Kazuha Toyoyama!
But before she could linger in his embrace for long, Momiji Ooka, dressed in a stunning pink kimono, yanked her away.
"Kazuha, really, you are so ill-mannered."
Despite her words, she immediately followed up by pressing her own body against him and kissing Yuu's other cheek.
The busty beauty's blue eyes were brimming with affection as she whispered, "Husband, it's been so many days. Did you miss me?"
Ran Mouri, who had been the one to open the door, immediately displayed a perfect pair of "dead-fish eyes."
Do these two even realize I'm standing right here?
However, despite her inner monologue, she didn't say anything.
They were at home, with no outsiders around; she could afford to let these two girls be a little bit wild.
Along with the "Two Leaves," a mature, kimono-clad beauty had also arrived.
Shizuka Hattori stood quietly behind the two girls, her light blue kimono looking incredibly elegant. She gazed at Yuu with eyes full of tenderness.
Given her status as an elder—and the fact that there was no more room in Yuu's arms—she restrained herself, though she secretly wanted to pounce on him just like the girls had.
It was indeed a holiday, but Yuu was curious why they had all come together.
Yuu welcomed Shizuka inside, closed the door, and asked, "Shizuka, what brings you all here today? Where are Michiko and Shizaha?"
"Shizaha has a kendo competition this break," the mature beauty replied with a soft chuckle. "Michiko really wanted to come, but she couldn't just leave Shizaha alone in Osaka, so..."
She smiled again and continued, "The truth is, I received a letter. The sender is a friend who has been dead for ten days. That's why I came to Tokyo to ask for your help."
A Letter from the Grave?
A letter from someone dead for ten days?
Yuu searched his memory but couldn't find a match for this specific case.
However, he was certain it was a fated event.
In the world of Conan, such a classic setup inevitably led to a murder case, even if the timeline had shifted.
With over a thousand episodes, it was normal for him not to remember every minor case from the later seasons.
As the main plot advanced, the chaotic timeline was generally moving forward. It wasn't surprising to encounter things he hadn't seen in his previous life.
Because of this, Yuu was determined to finish his grand plan before his "foresight" advantage completely vanished.
He aimed to settle everything before Conan Edogawa officially entered the second grade.
After all, that was a clear chronological marker, and he had only watched up to around that point in his past life.
At this point, Kazuha couldn't help but interject, "It's actually really creepy, Yuu-sensei. You'll see once you hear the details."
Yuu nodded, and everyone settled down to listen to Shizuka Hattori's explanation.
"The man who died was a university classmate of mine named Kohei Wakamatsu. He was the president of a design firm in Tokyo."
"He was a successful entrepreneur with properties in Osaka, Tokyo, and Karuizawa."
"However, ten days ago, he was found dead in the bathroom of his villa in Karuizawa."
"The day of the incident was his wife Serika Wakamatsu's birthday, and everyone was in the living room attending the party."
"The local police ruled it a burglary gone wrong, concluding that someone had broken in and murdered him."
Yuu asked, "And the letter? Surely it wasn't sent by the victim before he died?"
Shizuka shook her head and handed him the envelope.
"The postmark is from only five days ago. It was originally addressed to Heiji, but since he's been abroad lately and couldn't be reached, I opened it myself."
"The sender is listed as Kohei Wakamatsu, but it feels like it was written by his killer."
Yuu opened the letter and read it aloud:
"Mr. Heiji Hattori, I am desperate to meet a high school detective like yourself to confess the crimes I have committed.
However, even if we meet, I doubt you will be able to see me clearly.
After all, I am a fictional existence to you humans—a shadow that you can never hope to glimpse.
If you still wish to meet me, please visit on the night of the next full moon. I shall be waiting for you at the house of the man I murdered!"
At the bottom of the letter was an address.
Shizuka pulled out a key. "There was also a key inside the envelope. I was originally going to wait for Heiji to return, but I mentioned it in the group chat..."
Kazuha stuck out her tongue and said, "As soon as I saw it, I thought it was just some nonsense meant to scare people. 'Fictional existence'? 'Unglimpsable shadow'? It's obviously just someone playing ghost!"
Momiji added, "But then we saw that Auntie Shizuka was really concerned about it, so we suggested going to the villa for a 'test of courage' to see for ourselves."
"The night before last happened to be a full moon. Kazuha and I called up a few female classmates and went to the villa."
"Specifically, Kohei Wakamatsu's old family home in Osaka. We rang the doorbell, but no one answered, so we used the key to let ourselves in."
"The villa was beautifully decorated. What started as a test of courage turned into a boring tour of a mansion."
Momiji's expression then shifted to one of lingering fear.
"But when we reached the bathroom door, things changed."
"Sitting there against the tiled wall of the bathroom was a white figure with long hair. You couldn't see its face."
"Its finger was scratching at the tiles, leaving deep marks that spelled out the English letters 'E-Y-E'."
Kazuha continued the description, "We saw that its eyes were glowing red. We screamed our heads off."
"Immediately after, the power in the villa went out. It was pitch black, and we could only hear this crunch-crunch sound."
"When the power came back on, the bathroom was empty. The ghost had vanished into thin air."
"What's scarier is that the tiles that had the letters 'EYE' on them were perfectly smooth again. In their place was a white piece of paper that said: 'What disappeared was the flesh, not the words'!"
Momiji gripped Yuu's hand tightly, looking truly spooked.
"Husband, don't you think that's terrifying? In all my life, that's the first time I've ever seen a real ghost!"
Logic vs. The Supernatural
Girls are naturally more afraid of the supernatural. Since they now knew that supernatural powers were real, they were even more inclined to believe they had seen a ghost.
Yuu didn't dare say there were no other supernatural users out there.
While he had Noah notify the "Witch Squad" to investigate the scene in Osaka, he rested his chin in his hand and asked, "Is it possible the tiles in that spot were swapped with tiles from another part of the bathroom?"
Kazuha shook her head.
"I went back inside to look later. The diamond-shaped tiles have a gradient color—darker at the top and lighter at the bottom. There were a few scratched tiles near the floor, but the color was too light. They didn't match the color of the original spot at all. Swapping them would have been impossible."
"Have you been back to the villa since then?"
"Yes. We dragged Auntie Shizuka along yesterday. But since the night before last, the villa has been scheduled for demolition and reconstruction. The construction crew is very strict; they won't let anyone in."
"We ran out of options, which is why we came to find you, Yuu-sensei."
Hearing this, Yuu roughly understood what was going on.
It wasn't a ghost; it was someone playing tricks to get someone to investigate the truth behind Kohei Wakamatsu's death.
It seemed the case at the Karuizawa villa had more to it than met the eye.
"So, Shizuka, what do you want to do?"
Shizuka Hattori let out a sigh.
"Since this was a request sent after his death, we should investigate it clearly so he can rest in peace."
"My old classmate happens to have a house here in Tokyo as well. I called his widow, Serika, yesterday. Let's head over there to investigate. If we can't find clues there, we'll check his company."
"I just feel like I can't be at peace unless I do something!"
Yuu immediately stood up. "Then let's go now."
Ran had no interest in paranormal events and lacked a strong curiosity for such things. She said she'd stay behind to prepare dinner and declined to join.
Thus, the group consisted of the three women from Osaka and Yuu.
As they headed downstairs, they ran right into Masumi Sera, who was coming down to look for Ran.
The highly curious self-proclaimed high school detective insisted on coming along after hearing about the case.
The Lexus had exactly one seat left, and since she had been "sensible" enough not to interrupt his time with Mary the night before, Yuu decided to bring her along.
Masumi was already semi-family, so Yuu didn't bother hiding his intimate relationship with the three Osaka women.
Though, he wouldn't go out of his way to explicitly explain it either.
The Wakamatsu Household
On the road, the interior of the Lexus was a scene of lively activity.
The three young girls sat in the back.
Kazuha and Momiji leaned forward, chatting with Yuu like schoolgirls about all the interesting things happening at their academy.
Although Yuu visited them regularly at night to satisfy them physically, they still craved his emotional presence and missed him terribly.
Shizuka, in the passenger seat, wore a gentle smile, occasionally chiming in.
Yuu was in a great mood as well; he was already planning how to arrange things for tonight!
Only Masumi, sitting on the edge, had her arms crossed over her chest. Watching all these "birds and butterflies" pester Yuu made her feel inexplicably irritated.
She felt like there was a barrier between her and them.
Yuu caught Masumi's expression and, not wanting to leave her out, asked, "Masumi, why are you alone today? Where's Mary?"
Masumi instinctively replied, "Ma... Mary seemed to have something to do these past two days. She went out early this morning."
"I see. By the way, I haven't introduced you all yet."
Yuu chuckled and said, "This is Masumi Sera. She lives upstairs from us with her sister. She's a fairly famous high school detective; maybe she can help with the case today."
At these words, Kazuha and Momiji finally took a good look at Masumi.
Snaggletooth, emerald eyes... she's actually quite cute. But her chest is as flat as a board!
Mmm, zero threat!
The two girls took one look at her chest and immediately looked away.
Masumi felt insulted once again. With a slightly flushed face, she snapped, "Don't look down on me just because I'm small now! I'll have a very obvious growth spurt soon!"
Masumi was losing confidence even as she said it; she had been saying that for a while now with no visible progress, which was a major source of distress for her.
Yuu smiled. Before officially contracting Mary and Masumi, he didn't want to reveal too much about them.
Too many mouths lead to slips, and he didn't want to create unnecessary trouble for himself.
The chat made the time fly by. Before they knew it, the car had pulled up in front of the Wakamatsu villa.
The group stepped out and rang the doorbell.
A moment later, the door opened. They were met by the victim's widow, Serika Wakamatsu.
She wore glasses and was nearly fifty years old. Her face was wrinkled and looked like a dried-out vegetable.
"Shizuka, you're finally here. I've been waiting for you all morning!"
Just then, an obese middle-aged man walked out of a room, shouting loudly, "Weren't we having afternoon cake? Why isn't it ready? I'm starving!"
Serika replied, "Ikuo, please be patient. The housekeeper went out to buy cream; she'll be back soon."
At this, Ikuo Wakamatsu rolled his eyes. "Tell her to hurry up. My piece of cake better be bigger than everyone else's."
With that, the obese man turned and lumbered back toward his room.
Masumi couldn't help but ask, "Is that your son?"
"Mmm. But Ikuo is my stepson. Kohei and I were a remarried couple."
Just then, two men in business suits approached from outside.
The elderly man with graying hair asked, "Madam, are these all your guests for today?"
"Yes. Didn't I tell you on the phone? Shizuka received a letter from my late husband and found someone to help investigate. Is there a problem?"
The gray-haired man looked troubled.
"Nothing, really. It's just that I didn't expect so many people. I only bought the usual amount of the President's favorite Baumkuchen. I'm afraid there won't be enough to go around!"
The man behind him, who had long yellow hair and a face full of pockmarks, spoke up, "It doesn't matter. The President is dead anyway, so that's one less person. I sneaked a few bites while you were parking, so I don't want any more. There should be enough."
"Anyway, which of you is the detective? It couldn't possibly be these young girls, could it?"
Shizuka spoke up in a gentle voice, "Of course not. I've brought the special consultant of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Yuu Hoshimiya. I assume you've all heard of him?"
At the mention of Yuu Hoshimiya's name, the expressions of all three people changed instantly. Their gazes shifted heavily toward him.
Yuu raised an eyebrow. It seemed all three of them knew that Kohei Wakamatsu's death was suspicious; otherwise, they wouldn't have reacted like that.
Upon realizing Yuu Hoshimiya was standing right before them, the two men immediately became respectful. They bowed slightly and began to introduce themselves.