One Friday afternoon.
Sjal was helping look after the business in the Video rental store.
Rin had placed a lounge chair at the entrance of the Video rental store, basking in the sun while listlessly flipping through the day's newspaper.
While flipping through the newspaper, an advertisement published in the front-page headline caught her attention.
[Notice to Kaito Kid:]
[The large jewel you have always dreamed of, 'blue wonder'—this jewel, hailed as the miracle of the sea, is now decorating the roof of the Suzuki Museum!]
[If you want it, come and get it yourself!]
[— Suzuki Jirokichi, Advisor to the Suzuki Foundation]
Rin raised an eyebrow, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
Come to think of it, the people of the Suzuki family all seemed to quite like Kaito Kid.
Sonoko went without saying, but Sonoko's mother and this uncle of the Suzuki family were also quite keen on competing with Kaito Kid.
Just then, Sonoko and Ran appeared, bringing Conan with them.
"Rin! We've come to play with you!"
Sonoko Suzuki walked at the very front, high-spirited, while Mouri Ran followed behind, holding Conan's hand.
"Sonoko, Ran, it's you guys. How do you have time to come over today? No school?" Rin put down the newspaper and greeted them with a smile.
"It's a holiday today," Ran replied with a smile.
Sonoko, having sharp eyes, happened to see the contents of the newspaper in Rin's hand. She immediately became even more excited and pounced in front of Rin like a little bird.
"Wow! Rin, did you see the contents of this newspaper too? The challenge my uncle Suzuki Jirokichi issued to Kaito Kid-sama! Isn't it super imposing!"
As she spoke, she couldn't wait to pull out her phone, click on a text message, and present it to Rin like a treasure.
"Look, look! I have the latest firsthand news here.
Kid-sama has already accepted the challenge! This is the reply my uncle forwarded to me!
Kid-sama is going to the museum tonight to scout the terrain."
Rin looked up and saw a text message displayed on Sonoko's phone screen.
[Since you have issued a challenge, I shall gladly accept it.]
[This Saturday at 8 PM, I will arrive on time to take the blue wonder.]
[Please forgive me, for tomorrow night I shall visit in advance to inspect the venue.]
[—Respectfully yours, Kaito Kid (followed by a Kaito Kid cartoon pattern)]
[PS: At that time, I will come on foot to take the gem.]
"On foot?" Rin noticed this interesting note, having a slight recollection of this plot.
"Right, right! It's very special, isn't it!"
Sonoko's eyes sparkled, and she clasped her hands together.
"The blue wonder was installed on the roof of the museum by my uncle, yet Kid-sama says he will walk to the gem. It's incredible just thinking about it.
I came today specifically to invite you all to watch Kid-sama magnificent performance up close!"
As she spoke, she looked around the shop. "Eh? Where's Ellen? For something this fun, everyone should go together, of course!"
Rin waved her hand. "What a coincidence, Ellen and Rina had something to do and went out today. They probably won't be back for a few days."
"Ah... what a pity."
A look of regret appeared on Sonoko's face, but she quickly cheered up again.
"By the way, Rin, is your car fixed? I remember you said you sent it for maintenance last time.
If it's fixed, can you drive your car and take us there? Ran and I aren't old enough to get a driver's license yet, so it's more convenient to take your car."
Indeed, in Japan, one must be at least 18 years old to obtain a driver's license, and both Sonoko and Ran were only 17.
Upon hearing this, a troubled expression appeared on Rin's face.
"The car, well, it's fixed. But, my car might be a bit... different from normal cars. If we take my car, everyone might have to put in a little effort."
Rin held her fingers apart to show a gap, then narrowed it slightly until it was almost gone, paused, and then widened it a bit again.
"Put in effort?"
Sonoko, Ran, and Conan looked at each other, question marks appearing over their heads.
What kind of effort is needed to ride in a car? It sounded a bit strange.
Filled with doubt, the three followed Rin to the private parking lot in the alley behind the Video rental store.
When Rin pointed to her car, Sonoko and Ran were stunned for a moment, not thinking anything was wrong at first.
It was an all-white city microcar.
The design was quite small, round, and cute, similar to a Wuling Hongguang Mini, with a compact four-seater size.
"Wow! This car looks so cute!" Sonoko was the first to exclaim in admiration. "The white is very pretty, and it's just enough for the four of us to sit."
Ran also nodded. "It looks like a very convenient car. It's perfectly adequate for city travel, and parking should be easier."
However, when Rin opened the car door with the key, the three of them, including Conan, all froze in place, their faces uniformly showing a (⊙ˍ⊙) dot-eyed expression.
The situation inside the car completely overturned their perception of automobiles.
In the driver's seat, there was no steering wheel, instead, there was a shiny silver bicycle handlebar.
Where the accelerator and brake pedals should have been, it was empty.
Furthermore, under each seat, a pair of bicycle pedals was installed.
Dashboard? Non-existent.
There was only a simple battery indicator light and a speedometer, looking like they had been dismantled from an electric bicycle.
The entire interior of the car was like a multi-person bicycle commonly seen in scenic areas, forcibly stuffed into a car shell.
"This... this is... a car?" Ran's tone was a bit hesitant.
The corners of Conan's mouth twitched violently. This is basically a multi-person tandem bicycle wearing the shell of a car, right?!
He now understood what Rin meant by everyone having to put in a little effort to drive this car.
But wanting to drive this car to the museum was surely not something that could be done with just a little effort, right?!
Rin looked at the three petrified people, rubbed the back of her head a bit sheepishly, and asked, "Um... now, are you still willing to go out in this car?"
The scene was silent for three seconds.
Suddenly, Sonoko's eyes emitted light like searchlights.
She grabbed Ran's arm and shook it excitedly.
"Ran! Let's take this! This is so interesting! I've seen plenty of luxury cars.
But this is the first time I've seen such a cool car! Let's take this car, okay?
Please, please!"
Ran looked at her over-excited friend's face, then at the four bright pedals inside the car, a helpless expression appearing on her face.
"Since you've said so, Sonoko, I have no objection."
You have no objection, but I do.
Conan looked at the sky speechlessly, knowing they wouldn't listen to a child like him at all, and could only complain silently in his heart.
Is it too late for me to say I want to ride in the Professor's Beetle now...