Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"Have you noticed that there are suddenly a lot more people wearing chef's uniforms in the kitchen?"

Miss Ooka was holding a glass of juice. Since three or four chefs had already walked past her, even the young lady, who usually didn't pay much attention to others, noticed something strange.

The chefs who entered all carried trays and were competing with the waiters for snacks, but both sides seemed to know each other, as there were small circles of waiters and chefs gathered in several corners.

"They must be student detectives who infiltrated the school, Miss. Quanxin High School should have a club like that too."

"Really? I'm in the tea ceremony club, so I don't really pay attention to these kinds of random clubs. But I remember you joined the detective club with Hattori-kun, right? Iori-san mentioned it to his mother."

Clearly, the master and servant did not meet often. Nohara Maki could tell this from their conversation. She knew that her father was certainly familiar with their identities and their relationships, so she kept quiet and kept her eyes on the elementary school student at the entrance of the venue.

Holding his phone and walking past each guest in the venue, if it were an adult or a middle school student, they would immediately think he was a trainee detective, but not Conan.

"It looks like a lost child who can't find their parents..."

"Ok?"

Yuji Kudo followed Maki's gaze and happened to meet Conan's eyes, then immediately looked away.

Searching blindly like Conan would be useless. He's probably just looking at his phone to search for people related to Sasaki Kiyoyori online, which is probably the only way for him, as he's unfamiliar with the place and the world in this era.

"Ryu?! What are you doing here, and dressed like that?"

A sudden exclamation rang in the ears of the four. The familiar voice made the butler's expression change, while Miss Ooka was stunned for a moment before immediately revealing an amused smile.

"This is troublesome. It's not possible to hide and avoid him anymore..."

Miss Ooka grabbed the butler, stopping him from escaping.

"Miss?"

"I thought you weren't afraid of being exposed since you didn't react when he was mentioned, Iori-chan."

The reactions of the three people made Yuji Kudo pinch his chin and examine them with great interest.

"Ah...Ah Shou!"

"You drove my car away just to attend this memorial service? You should have said so earlier! Now I have to pretend to be a chef to sneak in." Hattori Morikazu slapped the butler on the shoulder, then noticed the young lady next to his friend.

"And this is...?" "Oh dear, how rude of me, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Ookahara Mi, and I am the heiress of the Kyoto Ooka Foundation."

“The Ooka Foundation…” Hattori Mamoru seemed to remember something, glancing at Ms. Ooka with a strange expression.

[The rival my mom mentioned several times when she was drunk...]

"By the way, Ooka Momiji, also known as Chairman Ooka, is this young lady's mother," Kudo Yuji interjected. "Miss Harami is also Hattori-kun's fiancée."

"Huh?" Hattori Mamoru stood there, stunned.

"Sir, there's no need for such jokes. Impersonating someone from the Hattori family was just a whim of mine. If Iori-chan tells such jokes again, she'll be sad."

Miss Ooka grabbed Iori Ritsu's long braid and shook it up and down.

"Look, Iori-chan is protesting too."

"Oh, it was just a joke. You scared me." Hattori Mamoru breathed a sigh of relief: So, does Ritsu like this lady? Uh, looks like there's no chance...

What happened next was even more interesting. It seemed that this kid had some misunderstanding about male and female genders, which made Kudo Yuuji feel a bit overwhelmed. It was such a classic erotic scenario playing out in real life. He rubbed his hands together, wanting to see some more interesting things.

"Hattori-kun breathed a sigh of relief. Did you think I wasn't good-looking?" Ms. Ooka maintained her smile, but her words became a bit more impolite.

"No, Ms. Ooka is very beautiful, but I already have someone I like."

"Pfft..."

The sudden commotion caused the three people who were caught in the strange circle to turn their heads to look at the father and daughter. In order to cover up his smirk, Kudo Yuji also hurriedly turned his head to glare at Nohara Maki, shifting the blame to his daughter.

"That's incredibly rude. Please reflect on your actions."

"I……"

"I'm going to meet a few people. I'll trouble the three of you to accompany her." Kudo turned around, winked, and said loudly, "Stop smirking. It's very impolite."

Leaving quickly, Kudo Yuji left Nohara Maki alone, preparing to begin his own arrangements and plans.

"He actually left me all alone..." Nohara Maki clenched her fists, recalling the various pranks her father used to play on her when he came home. (End of Chapter)