Chapter 23: I Remember This Case!

As it turns out, every prankster eventually becomes the punchline of someone else’s joke.

Yukiko was no exception.

At first, she had resisted the idea, thinking, "What could be more fun than enjoying a jet-setting life as a couple with my husband?" But soon, Yukiko, the premier prankster of the Detective Conan world, realized there was a different kind of fun to be had. If she returned as Conan’s "guardian," wouldn't that mean she could experience her son’s childhood all over again? A couple’s retreat could happen anytime, but getting to watch her grown son live life as a primary schooler again—that was a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience!

She couldn't wait.

"I’ll fly back to Los Angeles to pack my things and return immediately!" Yukiko said, eager to get started. Damn it, if she had known this would happen, she would have put more effort into the Fumiyo Edogawa disguise. She felt a wave of resentment toward the middle-aged matron persona she had slapped together so carelessly.

And so, it was settled. Yukiko and Yusaku returned to Los Angeles immediately. After some quick preparation, Yukiko would return first to act as Conan's guardian. In the meantime, to avoid raising new suspicions, Conan had to stay with the Mouri family a little longer. Judging by Yukiko's enthusiasm, however, even in this world of "Conan-logic," that period would be very short. It seemed Shinichi Kudo was about to make up for a childhood he might not have even lost in the first place.

The rest was simple. Fumiyo Edogawa "reappeared," returned Conan to the detective agency, handed over ten million yen for his upkeep, and explained that since her son refused to go abroad, she would be arranging to move back to Japan soon. With such generous payment in hand, Kogoro Mouri immediately declared that Conan was like a son to him.

Of course, Ji-yi didn't escape the fray. Although it certainly wasn't his job to look after Conan, the situation gave everyone an idea. To ensure they could all gather frequently without raising suspicion, he was ultimately saddled with the identity of a "distant relative from Fumiyo Edogawa’s mother’s side," a connection even Conan didn't know about.

Ji-yi found the whole thing preposterous. But considering that Yusaku Kudo and Toichi Kuroba could be brothers, and the bizarre nature of the "Red Mansion Dream" soap operas, he only prayed that the Creator wouldn't one day decide to make this fabricated blood relation official.

In short, the subsequent plans were set. However, Conan, having been played, was quite annoyed. He couldn't easily retaliate against Ji-yi or Shuichi Akai, but he certainly wouldn't hesitate to practice "filial piety" toward his own father. Thus, before Yusaku Kudo could leave the country, he was intercepted by his editor and forced to hole up in a hotel, frantically meeting his deadlines. Ji-yi thought this was a job well done; people who constantly delay their work deserve to be locked in a "dark room."

After a very brief period of calm, the Metropolitan Police Department received a call from Ran. The location was the Beika Art Museum.

Originally, Megure was supposed to lead the team, but Ji-yi figured that if he didn't go, Conan would be running around causing trouble just to solve the case. Furthermore, he wanted to protect Uncle Mouri’s neck from another sedative needle, so he tagged along.

The case itself wasn't complicated, but the story behind it was heartbreaking. The curator, who loved art deeply, had killed the profit-seeking owner who intended to demolish the gallery in order to protect it. Ji-yi didn't like such distressing motives, but he solved the case quickly, hoping that Curator Ochiai would receive fair treatment in court. The only good news was that, under his cover, Conan didn't do anything too reckless, and Kogoro Mouri was spared a needle to the neck.

***

The peaceful days made Ji-yi start to doubt the prowess of the "Death God" primary schooler.

Then, a major incident occurred. A bomb was discovered on the Shinkansen. It scared Ji-yi so much he almost thought he had been sucked into one of the theatrical movies. However, by the time he and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal squad arrived at the scene, they found the situation had already been handled.

What differed from the original story was that it wasn't just the Mouri trio on the train. Shuichi Akai, who was disguised as Subaru Okiya and secretly investigating Gin, was also on board. Naturally, the situation wasn't as thrilling or dangerous as in the original, where Conan was almost forced to reveal his identity to Ran. With the cooperation of Akai and Conan, the matter was resolved smoothly—too efficiently for teammates who weren't supposed to be transmigrators.

"It was Gin and Vodka," Conan said, leaning toward Ji-yi and lowering his voice. "They made a deal with that woman and then planted a bomb to silence her. It’s a good thing Mr. Akai was on the train..." Because of their previous confrontation, Conan naturally knew their code names ahead of time.

Ji-yi remembered this case as soon as he arrived at the scene; like the one-billion-yen heist, it was a product of the early animation team's whimsy. One could only say that the animation studio was truly god-tier for pushing the original author to the brink of wanting to abandon the series, as they spared no effort in "magically" altering the plot.

Ji-yi was very happy that the Detective Boys were not present. Great, this world was primarily based on the manga. What did the reckless antics of the animation studio’s "Detective Boys" have to do with the actual manga characters? Not having to take care of unruly kids was fantastic.

Compared to the "holy wars" frequently sparked online in his previous life—where fans would scream at the animators, "Don't hate character XX so much!"—Ji-yi felt the Detective Boys in the manga were the ones who truly deserved justice. In both the animation and the movies, the characters most unfairly maligned were definitely the three real primary schoolers. That malice felt so bizarre and uncalled for; what the animation team did to them was comparable to the actions of the killer in Keigo Higashino's masterpiece, *Malice*.

From the very first episode, the animators had the three kids try to sneak onto a train, forcing the audience to view them as "bad kids" from the start. Then, they were constantly crawling into trunks or getting involved in random explosions. The problem was, they never did those things in the manga. It was hard to understand why anyone would hold such pure malice toward three first-graders.

In fact, while the animation team was busy smearing the Detective Boys, they took a swipe at Conan as well. After all, to turn "Lord Genta of Karasuma" into "Gian," they had to make Conan play the role of "Nobita." It was hard to understand how Conan’s personality could possibly map onto Nobita's...

In reality, in the manga—or rather, the timeline Ji-yi had traveled to—Conan integrated into the group quite quickly. Just like now, after returning to school from the wedding in Kyoto, when he heard the three kids discussing a riddle, he proactively joined in. He then enthusiastically helped the children solve the puzzle, which earned them a Masked Rider model. Regardless of the difficulty of the riddle or the deductive level of the participants, as long as you were interested and tried earnestly to enter the world of deduction, Conan was willing to make you his friend and share the joy of solving mysteries. Even primary schoolers were no exception.

"Just like Kobayashi-shonen from the Detective Boys!" Ayumi’s sincere compliment made Conan blush as he scratched his head in embarrassment.

"In that case... I’m Kogoro Akechi!" Genta said excitedly.

"I’m Sherlock Holmes!" Ayumi followed the rhythm.

"Then... we are a group of little geniuses of the same feather!" Mitsuhiko concluded.

Watching the three of them immediately switch roles and enter their detective game, Conan could only give them a helpless, half-lidded stare.

Meanwhile, finding himself surprisingly idle, Ji-yi almost started to wonder if he was really in the Beika Town he knew.

Someone had reported a crime. Kabane, the leader of an Italian robbery organization who had stolen 15,000 Maple Leaf gold coins overseas a year ago, had escaped to Tokyo. The First Investigation Division needed to coordinate with the International Investigation Division—which hadn't yet been fully reorganized—to conduct a manhunt.

Great, this is a case I remember!