i am just a student? in Conan world

Hattori Heiji quietly asked Conan, "Hey, Kudo, are all the cops in Tokyo like this?"

Conan rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and eventually just nodded in silence.

After a moment of speechlessness, Hattori Heiji, still unwilling to give up, said to everyone, "I still think Fujino's right. Kaito Kid's crime time might be at 8 o'clock."

Conan agreed, "Yeah, I think so too."

But what came next was a light smack on the head from Mouri Kogoro. "Kids shouldn't interrupt."

"Actually, Fujino-kun's suggestion isn't entirely baseless," said Nakamori Ginzo after some thought. "Any possibility involving Kaito Kid is 100%. I've encountered this kind of situation before. Fujino makes a good point."

"Then let's do this: we'll prepare for both 8 PM and 3 AM," Tani Shintaro suggested, rubbing his chin. "That way, no matter when Kaito Kid shows up, we'll be fully ready."

"Yes," Nakamori Ginzo agreed. "That settles it."

'Uncle Mouri is really overdoing it today...' thought Fujino, looking at the group setting the time schedule with an expression of helplessness.

He didn't feel overshadowed or anything like that.

Uncle Mouri is the kind of guy who can mess things up, always picking the wrong answer with pinpoint accuracy and misleading everyone else.

Inspector Megure knows this well.

Anyway, Fujino already knew the answer—he was certain to catch Kaito Kid. 

As for the others? They don't listen to the spoiler and just follow Mouri, crashing into walls. Whatever, if they don't listen, it's their loss.

Fujino had been planning to reveal the correct location too, but now he figured he'd let it go.

On his own, he had over a 50% chance of finding Kaito Kuroba, a.k.a. Kaito Kid. With Conan's help, that chance would increase by 10%. But if these guys got involved, the odds would drop by 20%.

Since Mouri was so eager to take the lead today, Fujino was determined to help Tomoko Suzuki win her bet.

...

On the museum rooftop, a listening device attached to a pigeon's leg picked up the group's conversation.

"Hahaha!"

On the other side, hiding in a truck, Kaito Kuroba, eavesdropping on the conversation, couldn't help but laugh. "Didn't expect that guy to have such a day!"

He had been worried when Fujino cracked his code and uncovered the location.

Though it wasn't a big deal, it would still be troublesome.

But now it seemed he had nothing to worry about.

The Japanese police really were a bunch of idiots.

The answer was right in front of them, but instead of believing the truth, they confidently followed the false one.

If that's not self-destructive, what is?

Just then, the listening device picked up more sounds.

Kaito Kuroba continued eavesdropping.

...

After an impassioned speech, Nakamori Ginzo turned to Shiro Suzuki and asked, "Now that we've settled on the time, can we take the Egg of Memories for safekeeping?"

"No problem."

Shiro Suzuki carefully wrapped the Egg of Memories and handed it to Nakamori Ginzo.

"Are we moving it to the exhibit hall?" Uncle Mouri asked.

"It's a fake," Nakamori Ginzo said, taking the egg. "We've always been too foolish, leaving the prize out in the open, which is why Kaito Kid always succeeds. This time, we'll mislead him and hide the egg where no one can find it."

"I see," Mouri nodded, waving his hand. "So where are you going to put it?"

"I'm not telling you!" Nakamori Ginzo sternly refused, then looked back at two police officers behind him. "Only I and my two subordinates know this secret. No one else needs to ask."

Saying this, he pinched the two officers' cheeks. "These two are my most loyal men, so there's no way Kaito Kid could have disguised himself as them."

"Oh, really?" Mouri stood up, walked over, and pinched Nakamori Ginzo's cheek. "I think you could be Kaito Kid in disguise too."

Annoyed, Nakamori Ginzo stepped forward, holding the Egg of Memories, and pinched Mouri Kogoro's cheek in return.

The two then engaged in a cheek-pinching battle.

Fujino sighed, watching the two grown men acting like kids. He was speechless.

The Egg of Memories was in their hands...

Was it really okay for them to fight like this?

After a moment of helplessness, Fujino seemed to recall something.

He vaguely remembered that Kaito Kuroba, a.k.a. Kaito Kid, should be on the roof eavesdropping right about now.

Activating his eagle-eye vision, Fujino scanned the surroundings.

Then, he spotted a small sign of life in the partially open window of the chairman's office.

If he wasn't mistaken, this was the pigeon Kaito Kid had planted as a spy.

"Didn't expect a great thief like you to use such petty tricks."

Fujino sneered, stood up from the couch, and picked up a teacup from the coffee table.

Under everyone's confused gaze, he turned around and raised the teacup.

After confirming the location of the spying pigeon, he threw the teacup straight out the window.

With the sound of the cup shattering, the pigeon flew away in panic.

"What are you doing?" Uncle Mouri, who had been arguing with Nakamori Ginzo, looked confused and turned to ask Fujino.

"There was just a pigeon outside, spying for Kaito Kid," Fujino explained. "Didn't you notice?"

"A... pigeon?"

Mouri and Nakamori Ginzo looked bewildered.

Conan and Hattori Heiji nodded in agreement, saying in unison, "We did see a pigeon fly away just now. Fujino is probably right."

"Damn! You're not working with Kaito Kid, are you?" Nakamori Ginzo clicked his tongue and turned on Mouri. "If I had revealed the location just now, our whole plan would've failed."

"How was I supposed to know that?" Mouri responded defensively, though he was a bit guilty.

The two started arguing again.

"Alright, enough," Fujino stepped forward and said sternly, "Since Kaito Kid already knows, he'll definitely try to figure out where you hid the egg. After all, we've all seen what Kid is capable of."

Nakamori Ginzo and Mouri Kogoro stopped bickering, separated by Fujino's authoritative tone.

"Exactly," Nakamori Ginzo agreed. "Kid will surely figure out where we hid it."

Seeing that Nakamori Ginzo had taken the bait, Fujino smiled slightly and said, "I have a plan that you might want to consider."

"A plan?"

Nakamori Ginzo looked curiously at Fujino.

Fujino nodded with a smile. "But everyone here will need to leave for a while. The fewer people who know, the better, including Chairman Suzuki and your two officers."

The group looked puzzled but didn't question it further. They all left the room as instructed.

Once everyone had left and only Fujino and Nakamori Ginzo remained, Fujino finally spoke, "Since Kaito Kid wants to steal it, let's let him steal it."

"Let him steal it?"

Nakamori Ginzo looked confused.

Fujino asked, "Do you have any extra fake Eggs of Memories?"

"We do," Nakamori Ginzo replied. "We made several fakes just in case."

"Then this will be easy."

Fujino nodded, his lips curling into a slight smile as a plan started forming.

...

"What exactly did you two discuss?" Hattori Heiji asked when Fujino and Nakamori Ginzo emerged from the chairman's office.

"I can't say this for now."

Fujino smiled and said, "It's part of the plan."

"What the heck?" Hattori Heiji raised an eyebrow.

Just moments ago, he was speaking well of this guy.

Now he turns around and denies it.

It's just a plan...

Is he afraid of pretending to be Kaitou Kid?

Of course, Fujino isn't afraid of him pretending to be Kaitou Kid.

After all, disguising oneself that well requires a certain skill.

Fujino's plan was mostly in place, just waiting for Kaitou Kid to take the bait tonight.

...

On the other side.

A white dove flew across the sky, drifting through the streets of Osaka before gently landing in Kuroba Kaito's hand.

The pigeon that was hit by Fujino wasn't killed.

Because Fujino didn't hit it with full force.

"Fujino... that guy is really terrifying."

Kuroba Kaito removed the bugging device from the pigeon's ankle, sighing inwardly.

He didn't expect his little spy pigeon to be discovered so easily.

Fujino's observational skills were still as frightening as ever...

No, beyond frightening—it was almost inhuman.

The more Kaito thought about having to steal something from such a non-human-like person, the more his head hurt.

He wondered if Fujino could guess his true motive for stealing the egg.

If Fujino could figure that out, things would be much easier.

...

Before nightfall, Sonoko invited everyone to go shopping.

Although Sonoko extended the invitation, it was Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha, the two locals from Osaka, who led the way.

They eventually arrived at a shrine called Namba Hotei.

"I'm so lucky!" Ran opened her fortune slip, still blessed with great luck, making her the best of the group.

"The person you're waiting for will reunite with you."

Sonoko peeked over. "That must be about you and Shinichi, right?"

"Huh?" Ran blushed again.

"That's wonderful," Toyama Kazuha said with a soft laugh. "This time, I must meet this Kudo that Heiji keeps talking about."

For some reason, there was a slight tinge of jealousy in her tone.

Conan, standing nearby, gave an awkward smile, feeling a bit embarrassed.

He was right there…

"Hey, what kind of fortune did you get, Senpai?" Sonoko turned her attention to Fujino, and the other girls were also curious.

"Let me see..."

Fujino opened the fortune slip he had in his hand. "Great luck, free to act as I please, no taboos."

The girls gathered around out of curiosity.

Ran sighed, "You also got great luck, Senpai."

Toyama Kazuha was also amazed. "This type of fortune is quite rare."

"What?!" Hattori Heiji overheard and walked over. "Really? Fujino got this type of fortune? You know, the fortunes here are pretty accurate, and ones without taboos are really rare."

Fujino chuckled, "Maybe it's because I'm lucky."

It seemed the lucky coin's effect hadn't worn off yet. This thing was indeed useful.

It had been several days, and the effect was still going strong.

Sonoko asked curiously, "But why does this trip mention reuniting with someone from long ago?"

Fujino wasn't concerned about reuniting with old acquaintances.

He cared more about the good fortune related to business.

But before Sonoko could finish her question, a girl's voice sounded from behind: "Finally, we meet again... my future... husband."

"?"

Everyone turned their heads toward the voice.

There stood a girl with chestnut-colored hair.

Fujino narrowed his eyes as he looked at the girl.

He thought for a moment and then recalled the name from his memory.

Ooka Momiji.

Fujino's lips curled into a slight smile as he turned to look at the dumbfounded Hattori Heiji beside him.

If he remembered correctly, this girl was someone Hattori had some history with.

Although things were progressing a bit differently from what he remembered, it wasn't a big deal.

There was going to be a show to watch.

Fujino pulled out a handful of sunflower seeds from his pocket and started snacking on them.

After a moment, he turned to Conan and asked, "Want some sunflower seeds?"

Conan: "?"

"Sunflower seeds?"

Conan hesitated for a second, then took some seeds. "Where did you even get these?"

"Picked them up at the train station," Fujino explained as he quietly munched on his seeds.

Conan frowned and glanced at the girl not far away. "Fujino, do you know her?"

"Nope," Fujino shook his head and smiled. "I just think there's a good show coming up. I mean, 'future husband'? That sounds exciting…"

He crouched down and whispered to Conan, "Who do you think is the most likely candidate, besides Hattori?"

"You..." Conan muttered as he walked off with his sunflower seeds.

"Me?"

As Fujino looked on in disbelief, completely engrossed in splitting sunflower seeds with Conan, he failed to notice that Ooka Momiji had already walked up to him.

She grabbed Fujino's arm.

Fujino: "??????"

Fujino stared at Ooka Momiji in front of him, his expression growing more confused.

What the heck?!

(End of Chapter)