Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

The bathroom door was tightly closed, like a fragile barrier separating two completely different worlds.

Chikage Tomizawa stood under the showerhead, her wet hair clinging to her cheeks, and cool water droplets sliding down her neck and into her collar, but she didn't bother to wipe them away.

The girl's entire attention was focused on the faint sounds of conversation coming from outside the door.

Just now, in front of Lin Xiuyi, Tomizawa Chikage could act like an open and generous older sister, teasingly saying, "I didn't feel anything, but you're embarrassed."

That's because she knew Lin Xiuyi wasn't the type to take advantage of others, and she also knew that her teasing would at most make that blockhead blush, which wouldn't be a big deal.

But when it comes to Yukiko, it's a completely different story.

If Yukiko finds out that I'm taking a bath at Hayashi's house, how will we ever see each other again? How will we ever interact naturally?
Chikage Tomizawa knew all too well the social rules among girls.

Some things, once they happen, can forever change the relationship between two people.

She didn't want Yukiko to look at her differently, and she didn't want to feel inferior to Yukiko.

Therefore, Chikage Tomizawa chose the most primitive yet most effective strategy: holding her breath and maintaining absolute silence.

She clutched the towel tightly in her hand, almost wringing it out, but her ears, like radar, carefully picked up every sound coming from the living room.

……

In the living room, Lin Xiuyi looked at Yukiko sitting on the sofa and forced a smile.
He hadn't heard Yukiko's question clearly because he was worried about Tomizawa Chikage in the bathroom, so he could only tentatively ask her.
"What did you just say? You want me to see a magic show?"

His gaze kept drifting unconsciously toward the bathroom, as if afraid that Tomizawa Chikage might make a sound and be discovered by Yukiko.

Lin Xiuyi just wanted to finish talking to Yukiko as soon as possible, get rid of her quickly, and let Tomizawa Chikage come out of the bathroom smoothly, ending this unexpected situation that had made him extremely embarrassed.

Yukiko sat on the sofa, resting her chin on her hand. Hearing his question, she smiled and nodded.

"Yes, it's a magic show. There's a magic show tomorrow afternoon at the Miho Theater, and you know the magician who's performing."

"I know him?" Lin Xiuyi frowned.

In his memory, there was only one magician he knew. Could it be him?
"You're not talking about Kuroba Toichi, are you?"

"it's him!"

Yukiko nodded immediately, her smile widening, her tone filled with admiration and anticipation.
"I think I told you before, right? After watching Kuroba Toichi's imitation of you that day, I wanted to follow that magician and learn his disguise skills."

Lin Xiuyi listened to her words and realized that it was indeed true. Yukiko had mentioned to him before that she wanted to learn the art of disguise and wanted to become Kuroba Toichi's apprentice.

However, because so many things happened afterward, Lin Xiuyi forgot about it.

He chuckled dryly, his eyes still glancing towards the bathroom every now and then.

"It seems like that happened, but I can't quite remember."

Yukiko was completely oblivious to his perfunctory attitude, her face beaming with an expectant smile.
"Hey, Shuichi, what do you think I should do to get Master Kuroba to take me as his apprentice?"

"I really want to learn his disguise technique, but I don't know how to ask, and I don't know if Master Heiyu will agree. Can you give me some advice?"

"How would I know..."

Lin Xiuyi stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence. Thinking about it carefully, he realized he and Kuroba Toichi were old acquaintances.

The two had crossed paths a few times before and had a fairly good relationship. If he were to bring it up with Kuroba Toichi, perhaps Kuroba Toichi would actually agree to take Yukiko as his apprentice.

After all, Yukiko herself is very smart and talented, so she should be able to learn the art of disguise very quickly.

However, he couldn't say this to Yukiko.

If he were to speak up, but Toichi Kuroba refused, Yukiko would inevitably be very disappointed.

"No matter what, we have to give it a try." Lin Xiuyi encouraged with a smile, "If we try, there might still be a chance, there might still be hope. If we don't try, we won't have a single chance."

“That’s true…” Yukiko nodded. “But I’m still worried that Master Kuroba won’t think much of me. That would be too embarrassing.”

The girl lowered her head, her face full of frustration, looking anxious and uncertain.

She really wanted to learn the art of disguise, but the more she looked forward to it, the more afraid she became of failure and rejection.

That's why she came to Lin Xiuyi, hoping he could give her some advice and give her some courage.

Just then, Yukiko inadvertently looked up and saw that Hayashi Shuichi's gaze was once again drifting towards the bathroom.

The girl frowned, a look of confusion and dissatisfaction on her face.
"What? Are you worried about Reiko?"

“No,” Lin Xiuyi quickly shook her head.

"Not worried?" Yukiko raised an eyebrow and said irritably, "If you're not worried, why are you staring at the bathroom the whole time? Your eyes are practically glued to the bathroom door!"

Lin Xiuyi was rendered speechless by her rebuttal and could only go along with her, fabricating a lie:

"Yes, I... I was a little worried. You know, it's so hot today, the temperature is so high, I was worried that Lingzi would get heatstroke while taking a shower in the bathroom, so I couldn't help but take a few more glances."

"Hey, are you stupid?" Yukiko glared at her and said irritably, "Who would take a hot shower on such a hot day? Even if Reiko were to take a shower here, she would definitely take a cold shower, so how could she get heatstroke!"

The more the girl thought about it, the more she felt that Lin Xiuyi was hiding something.

She frowned, increasingly sensing that something was wrong.

Lin Xiuyi would never be like this on a normal day, never be so flustered, never be so perfunctory, and never stare at one spot for so long.

Unless, something really happened in the bathroom, unless, someone really was in the bathroom.

"Alright, since you're so worried, I'll go in and take a look for you."

As Yukiko spoke, she stood up from the sofa and walked towards the bathroom.
"I'll go in and check on Lingzi to see if she really has heatstroke, so you can rest assured."

"Don't!"

When Lin Xiuyi saw her walking towards the bathroom, her heart jumped into her throat.

He rushed over immediately, stood in front of Yukiko, and spread his arms to firmly block her.
“Although Lingzi is young, she has a terrible temper. She never likes to be disturbed when she's taking a bath. If you go in now, you'll definitely make her angry, and then she'll throw a tantrum.” (End of Chapter)