Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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After nearly half an hour, it was finally his turn. It seemed that the idol named Terumi Hoshino was extremely popular. Vodka, who had started lining up at the same time as him, was already on his second round.
Ritsu stared at Vodka, who had somehow pulled out yet another album from who-knows-where, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Just how many had he bought? And how many times was he planning to line up?
"Sir, it's your turn now," a staff member beside him reminded.
"Oh."
With a blank expression, Ritsu stepped forward and stood in front of Terumi Hoshino. He mechanically handed over the album. Feeling that saying nothing might be impolite, he added, "Hello, I'm your fan."
After carefully signing her name, Terumi noticed he hadn't provided a name.
"Don't you want a personalized signature?" she asked, looking up in confusion.
"??"
Ritsu blinked, puzzled. What was a personalized signature? Vodka hadn't mentioned that.
From up close, Terumi examined him curiously. Behind those exaggerated black-framed glasses were a pair of beautifully shaped phoenix eyes, striking and refined. Even his eye color, a rare pale blue, was captivating, as if one could hear the sound of ocean waves just by looking into them.
"…Is there something on my face?"
Terumi froze for a moment, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. She smiled awkwardly.
"No, I was just wondering if you didn't know what a personalized signature means. Your face seems unfamiliar."
"Yeah. I came with a friend. So what does it mean?"
"It means I can write your name on it."
His name…
Ritsu picked up the signed album and said, "No need. Thanks."
"You have to include a name."
"…Kamijo Sota."
He casually gave a name, only realizing after saying it that it belonged to a past target he had killed. Bad luck.
Just as he was about to leave, Terumi remembered something and quickly stood up, grabbing the hem of his clothes.
"Wait, I haven't given you your lucky coin yet!"
"Oh. Sorry."
He took the coin and was about to leave without even looking at it. It was the first time Terumi had encountered someone like this. Lining up in her queue, yet acting as if he were completing a task, showing no interest in her at all.
"Um… we haven't shaken hands yet."
She usually didn't enjoy these handshake interactions, but for some reason today, she felt compelled to make sure this particular fan shook her hand.
"…Oh."
The moment their hands touched, Ritsu immediately pulled his hand back, as if her hand carried some kind of contagious bacteria. After that, he simply walked toward the exit.
Leaving Terumi standing there, stunned.
Usually quiet and reserved, with a cool personality, her pride took a heavy blow. How could someone be this oblivious?!
Unaware that his behavior was problematic, Ritsu tilted his head and examined the five-yen coin in his hand. So this was the so-called lucky coin? Could it be any more perfunctory?
Judging by the situation, Vodka still had quite a while before finishing his line. Ritsu sat on a sofa in the lounge area, idly playing a mobile game to pass the time.
Another half hour passed before Vodka finally got both albums signed. Just as Ritsu was about to get up and leave, Vodka delivered some bad news.
"It's break time now. You can line up again in fifteen minutes. Macallan, want something to drink? I can grab it for you."
"You still have more albums?" Ritsu's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yeah! I bought five in total, two more left to sign!"
This obsessive idol fan was really planning to waste another hour of his time.
Ritsu rubbed his forehead helplessly. "No thanks. I'll just sit here and rest."
"Then I'll go get—"
Before Vodka could finish his sentence, a scream suddenly came from a nearby lounge.
As someone deeply familiar with his idol, alarm bells rang in Vodka's mind. He turned to Ritsu with a panicked expression.
The level of panic was like the time he had gotten bored while Gin was napping and braided his silver hair into twists, only to realize he couldn't undo them… leaving Ritsu completely baffled.
"Vodka, why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"
"Th-that scream, it's Kusano Kaoru's! It's her!"
Ritsu really wanted to complain. As a mid-to-high-ranking member of the organization, could he act a bit more like it? Being an idol fan was one thing, but getting this worked up over a scream was excessive.
"Maybe she saw a cockroach or something."
"N-no…"
"??"
Both Ritsu and Vodka turned toward a trembling man nearby. Pale with fear, he stammered, "I—I snuck in to take a look… there's… there's a dead body inside!"
A dead body?!
Ritsu instinctively moved to stand up and reach for his credentials, only to remember, he was no longer a police officer, but someone on the opposite side of the law.
"…."
He calmly sat back down, glancing at Vodka and lowering his voice.
"Vodka, we should leave… the police will probably arrive soon."
Vodka was conflicted. The scream came from his idol, and the crime scene was likely in the lounge, meaning Kaoru could become a suspect.
After some thought, he suddenly realized something.
Wasn't there someone just as sharp as Gin right in front of him?
"Macallan, help clear Kaoru's name!"
"Huh?"
Ritsu looked at him with half-lidded eyes, unsure what he meant. His face absolutely couldn't be seen by the Metropolitan Police. And since this was Beika Hotel, the responding officers would likely be from the First Investigation Division, there was an 80% chance he'd run into someone he knew.
He had no intention of getting involved.
"Vodka, did you forget who we are? We shouldn't be dealing with the police."
"What if we pretend to be private detectives? I'll be your assistant."
"But—"
Ritsu was still weighing the pros and cons when he met Vodka's watery, pleading eyes.
…That expression was absurd.
A grown man acting cute was devastatingly effective.
Ritsu sighed, pulled a white mask from his pocket, and put it on.
"Fine. Just stop making that face…"
If he kept looking at him like that, he might actually throw up.
Grinning in triumph, Vodka slung an arm over his shoulder.
"If you clear Kaoru's name, I'll treat you to drinks tonight!"
"…Let's just check the scene first. They've probably already called the police."
The two pushed through the crowd toward the temporary lounge area. Even before reaching the door, they could smell the heavy scent of blood, and faint sobbing could be heard inside.
Using his height advantage to peer over the onlookers, Ritsu didn't notice anything unusual at first. He looked at the man blocking the entrance and said coldly, "Move."
"Why should I—"
The man turned, only to meet Vodka's fierce glare. Terrified, he immediately stepped aside, silently thinking, 'Is this guy some kind of gangster? That look could kill someone…'
Entering the lounge, Ritsu found no one in the outer room. He pushed open a second door and under the shocked gazes of those inside, he saw a corpse lying in a pool of blood.