In the end, Kurosawa Hoshino didn't get into Inspector Megure's car. He got into Officer Sato's red Mazda RX-7.
Officer Sato had come too—after all, she was highly skilled, and Inspector Megure couldn't afford to leave a key player like her behind.
Inside the car.
Kurosawa Hoshino was on the phone with Ran.
"Another case? I was wondering why you were taking so long to get back."
Just as Ran finished speaking, Kogoro Mouri's voice cut in. "Ran, I think this brat is a bit creepy. He runs into cases wherever he goes."
"Dad, didn't you hear Hoshino? This time it's a criminal gang, not a murder case."
"Tch, same difference."
"Dad, go away. Don't interrupt my call with Hoshino."
Kurosawa Hoshino didn't interject, just silently listened to the father-daughter exchange.
After a moment—probably after Ran won the argument with Kogoro Mouri—she continued, "Hoshino, I forgot to bring over your school uniform that I washed last night. It's already dry here."
"It's fine. I'll come get it when I get back."
"No need. I'll bring it to your room later."
"Right, you have the key to my place. Oh, by the way, do we have school tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Sigh—" Kurosawa Hoshino sighed, because he'd noticed that the probability of running into a case was lower when he went to school, and higher when he didn't. So going to school tomorrow most likely meant no case—and no Source Points. Especially when Ran and the others were together with Ayumi and the kids, the probability of triggering a case was 100%, and they were all original cases with Source Points to earn.
"You're starting to hate school more and more," Ran laughed.
"No, I'm not."
As Kurosawa Hoshino finished speaking, the system panel popped up. The Source Points column had changed to 35. He was 5 points away from another superpower.
This also meant Inspector Megure and his team had successfully resolved the incident.
"Ran, I'll let you go for now. Inspector Megure and the others are back."
"Mm."
Ran acknowledged and hung up.
Kurosawa Hoshino hadn't been lying—he really did see Inspector Megure and the others returning. A group of fully armed officers was escorting three men and one woman toward them.
Before long, Officer Sato got in the car and began taking off her bulletproof helmet and vest. She pouted. "Honestly, Hoshino, because of one sentence from you, Inspector Megure made us wear every piece of life-saving gear we have."
"Isn't that good? Safety first," Kurosawa Hoshino smiled.
"It's safe, but it's too restrictive for me. I'm really not used to it."
"Never mind that. Was the arrest smooth? I didn't hear any gunshots or commotion."
"Not at all. We brought bulletproof shields too. The four of them had four handguns, but when they saw us fully armed, they didn't even resist—they surrendered immediately. After all, if they'd fired, we wouldn't have just stood there. Oh, and the woman's nickname is Silver Fox. She's a repeat offender in counterfeiting and has been on our wanted list for a long time."
"I see." Kurosawa Hoshino already knew all this and played along.
Officer Sato added, "All right, buckle up. I'm taking you home."
"Can I get out of the car?" Kurosawa Hoshino smiled bitterly, suddenly regretting not taking Inspector Megure's car.
"Heh, too late. The doors are already locked."
"..."
Kurosawa Hoshino had no choice but to buckle his seatbelt. At worst, he'd just close his eyes—if he didn't look, he wouldn't be scared.
Fifteen minutes later.
Kurosawa Hoshino returned home with a calm expression. Closing his eyes had indeed worked; this time he wasn't as nervous as usual.
He opened the door. The lights inside were on. He glanced at the shoes in the entryway and spotted Ran's.
"Ran, are you in there?"
"Yes." Ran's voice came from his bedroom.
Kurosawa Hoshino changed into slippers and walked in. But just as he reached his bedroom door, the door to the neighboring room opened and Conan stepped out. In a childish voice, he called, "Brother Hoshino, welcome home."
"..."
Kurosawa Hoshino's body twitched. He looked down at him and said quietly, "Why are you being so gross? Talk normally."
Conan gritted his teeth in anger. The reason he'd opened the door and come out was that he'd initially thought Kurosawa Hoshino had returned and hadn't paid attention. But then he'd heard Kurosawa Hoshino's voice at the entryway again and realized the person in his room was actually Ran. He'd been startled. Especially since it was nighttime—Conan was terrified something might happen between them, so he'd hurried out of his room.
"Brother Hoshino, why are you so late?" Conan tried to make his tone sound normal.
Kurosawa Hoshino ignored him and walked into his room. Seeing Ran tidying up his clothes, he asked, "When did you get here?"
"Just a couple of minutes ago." Ran said helplessly, "I finished cleaning up at home and came over to drop off your clothes. I didn't expect you'd be back too."
At the mention of that, Kurosawa Hoshino waved his hand and sighed. "I rode in Officer Sato's car. What's normally a twenty-minute trip took fifteen."
"Pfft~" Ran couldn't hold back her laughter, especially seeing Kurosawa Hoshino's expression—it made her laugh even harder.
"Don't gloat. Next time, I'll make sure you experience Officer Sato's driving skills too."
"Hehe, I'm not getting in. All right, your uniform is on the nightstand. I'm heading back."
Ran left the room. As she passed Conan at the doorway, she greeted him.
Conan breathed a sigh of relief. At least the two hadn't been inside with the door closed—so nothing would happen.
"Time to sleep." Kurosawa Hoshino said flatly, glanced at Conan, and closed the door.
Conan pouted and obediently went back to his room.
He sat on the bed, holding his phone, wondering whether he should call Ran as his original self. Suddenly, his phone rang.
It was Heiji Hattori.
He answered. "Hattori, what's up?"
"Kudo, did you watch today's live broadcast?"
"No, I was outside at the time." Conan knew Heiji was talking about the noon broadcast. He'd been outside the theater and couldn't see it, nor did he have a way to watch.
"Sigh, go online. Someone's already uploaded the video of the broadcast."
Heiji Hattori's voice sounded listless.
"Tch. I've been by his side so long, I've seen even faster case-solving. It's no big deal."
"Then solve one his way."
"I can't. What I mean is, I've seen it so many times that the shock isn't as big for me as it is for you guys."