Five o'clock in the afternoon.
Beika Shrine.
"Cut!"
At director Gondo Taketoshi's shout, the surrounding crew members and the two actors—Yoko Okino and the recently popular young actor Nachi Shingo—all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good. Half-hour break. We'll film the last scene when the sun sets. Everyone else, start setting up. Get all the props ready."
With the order given, the onlookers sprang into action, and the scene quickly became a flurry of activity.
"Wow, that was fast."
"Yeah."
Ran and Sonoko, watching from the sidelines, murmured in admiration.
"Yoko-chan..."
Kogoro Mouri took a step forward, but before he could finish, Kurosawa Hoshino stopped him.
"Uncle Mouri, Ran told me to keep an eye on you. No causing trouble. Just be patient—I heard filming will be done by six."
"You little brat."
Kogoro glared at him, thoroughly annoyed, but he stopped in his tracks and didn't rush over.
Conan looked around the set and, honestly, he already regretted coming. There wasn't much fun to be had. He should have known better.
He felt like he'd lost his mind. With Kogoro Mouri tagging along, there was no chance for Hoshino and Ran to get any alone time anyway.
But since he was already here, he couldn't just announce he was leaving. They probably wouldn't bring him next time.
"How was my acting?"
Yoko Okino walked over and asked the group.
"Miss Yoko, it was amazing! You couldn't even tell it was acting!" Kogoro Mouri, predictably, was the one gushing.
"Mr. Mouri, you're too kind. It's really nothing special." Yoko shook her head modestly. She knew her own abilities—they were merely average.
"Miss Yoko, could we take a look at the next part of the script?" Sonoko asked hopefully.
"Of course, Miss Sonoko." Before Yoko could respond, director Gondo Taketoshi approached with a beaming smile and graciously handed over the script. "By the way, I'm Gondo Taketoshi. Miss Sonoko probably doesn't remember me."
Others might not know who Sonoko was, but Gondo had just met her and knew she was the second daughter of the Suzuki Group. His small production crew couldn't afford to offend her—and neither could the TV station backing him. He had to treat her with the utmost care.
"Thank you. Don't worry, Director Gondo. I won't spoil anything."
Sonoko didn't think much of it. She took the script and happily began reading it with Ran.
Gondo breathed a sigh of relief. Then he turned to Kurosawa Hoshino and smiled.
"Kurosawa-kun, I didn't expect you to be friends with Yoko. It's quite a surprise. Pleased to meet you."
"Director Gondo, you're too kind." Hoshino replied politely.
"No, no, no. I've seen news about you many times. It's a shame your case-solving process is always too fast—almost unbelievable. Otherwise, I would have written it into a script."
"Just lucky."
"Haha. Once might be luck. That many times is not. Well, Kurosawa-kun, I have things to attend to. I won't disturb you any longer."
Gondo was tactful. After a brief chat, he excused himself and went to check on the set preparations.
Yoko Okino glanced at Sonoko, then moved closer to Hoshino and whispered, "Hoshino, is Sonoko's identity unusual? I noticed Director Gondo seemed to be currying favor with her."
Hoshino chuckled. "Miss Yoko, I can't really say. If you want to know, you'll have to ask her yourself."
He didn't need to say more. If Yoko Okino ever mentioned in an interview that she was friends with the second daughter of the Suzuki Group, her career—while not guaranteed to skyrocket—would at least avoid a lot of annoying troubles.
"I see." Yoko nodded thoughtfully. She was smart enough not to ask further. There was no rush.
"I—"
She stopped mid-sentence, freezing. She turned her head sharply to look in another direction, her brows furrowing.
"What's wrong?" Hoshino asked, following her gaze. But all he saw were crew members coming and going. Nothing unusual.
"I felt like someone was secretly taking photos of us just now. Hoshino, I'm not imagining it. Ever since I became famous, reporters and paparazzi are always taking my picture. I'm sure I wasn't wrong."
"So? If they were secretly filming, what's the problem?"
"That's not what I meant."
Yoko shook her head, her face flushing slightly. "We were standing so close. Those reporters and paparazzi definitely wouldn't miss that moment. All they need is one picture, and they'll start spreading rumors about us."
Hoshino scanned the crowd again but still couldn't spot who might have taken the photo. He shook his head helplessly.
"You little brat. Finally caught, huh?"
Kogoro Mouri, seizing his chance, stepped forward confidently.
"Back in the day, I relied on my skills in secret photography to become the strongest investigator of extramarital affairs in Beika Town. Miss Yoko, don't worry. I guarantee I'll find whoever took that picture by tomorrow morning."
Hoshino and Yoko exchanged a glance. Both wore the same expression: What do we even say to that?
Conan's lips twitched. He didn't understand why Kogoro was so proud of something like that. Being this smug about taking photos?
"We're done reading!"
Sonoko and Ran returned with the script.
Yoko Okino pushed aside her earlier concern and smiled. "So, what did you think of the ending?"
Ran's expression turned troubled. "It's a tragedy. The female lead kills the second male lead, and in the end, the male lead solves the case. It's so sad."
Sonoko added, "Yeah. The male and female leads clearly liked each other, and then that happens. But at least the male lead said he'd wait for the female lead to get out of prison. So it's not completely hopeless."
Conan's eyes lit up. He quickly spoke up. "Sonoko-neechan, can I see the script? I want to see if the case-solving part is logically sound."
"Give it to you?" Sonoko looked down at him. "Kid, can you even understand a script? It's not the same as reading a novel."
"Yeah, yeah, I can understand it!" Conan couldn't help but jump a few times, trying to grab the script from Sonoko's hand. Unfortunately, he couldn't jump high enough.
The next second, Kurosawa Hoshino reached out and placed a firm hand on Conan's head.
"Conan. Do you really want to see it?"
"Uh... no, not really."
Sensing danger, Conan quickly put on a sheepish grin, feigning innocence. He hoped Hoshino wouldn't dwell on his sudden eagerness—otherwise, he was in for a beating.
Kogoro Mouri frowned. "This kid is getting more and more mischievous. He can't even reach it, and he's already trying to jump up and snatch it."
Conan shrank back, completely speechless, doing his best to make himself invisible.