Detective: I'm Sato Miwako's Informant

"Of course! After all, I'm his aunt, it's normal for him to care about me."

"He's worried I'll take advantage of you. But I don't think I did, did I?"

"What about a princess carry?"

"Ahem, that doesn't count. Alright, now it's my turn to buy you a drink."

"I don't want to, it's disgusting."

"At worst, you can buy me a drink later, we can each have one."

Chapter 0265: Mutual Forgiveness Between Sonoko and the Others

the next day.

early morning.

Shiraishi Xiu opened his eyes.

Unfortunately, there was no one by the bed anymore; only the lingering warmth remained, indicating that Yukiko had not been gone for long.

I took a shower.

He then arrived at the hotel lobby.

He remembered that Xiaolan and the others were also staying at this hotel.

As soon as I arrived, I heard two lively voices—

"Hmph, Xiu disappears at night, and it's already daytime now."

"The garden..."

"Humph!"

The girl wearing a headband arrogantly put her hands on her hips. When she turned her head in displeasure, she saw Shiraishi Xiu walking slowly towards her, and her eyes revealed joy.

Ran also saw Shiraishi Osamu and smiled gently.

Osamu Shiraishi glanced at Yukiko, who was talking to Conan not far away, then at Kogoro Mouri, who was lounging around at the table, before finally fixing his gaze on the two girls and bursting into laughter:

Good morning, Ran, Sonoko.

"Good morning... Humph!"

Sonoko wanted to say hello, but she held back, her face showing displeasure.

"Some people, they agreed to go out and have fun together, but they disappeared overnight and only came back now. I don't know what they were doing."

"I agree!"

Xiaolan felt that she had to stand on Yuanzi's side in this matter:

"Xiu, you've gone a bit too far this time. We all agreed on things, but we couldn't get through to you on the phone, and we couldn't see you anywhere. We were really worried sick."

"Yes, yes, you're right, it was my fault."

Hearing Shiraishi Osamu's words, Sonoko became even more dissatisfied:

"There's no sincerity at all. It's not as simple as just saying it..."

"Sonoko! I feel I've been very sincere, and I've come so early in the morning, of course I'm here to keep my promise."

"You're all a liar. I don't believe a word you say. Last time you even deleted my photos. Don't tell me it wasn't you; there were only the two of us then, so it was definitely you. Therefore, I don't believe a single thing you say."

"Cough cough... Sonoko, what are you talking about? I don't understand at all. When was the last time it was just the two of us? When did I delete your photos? This is really strange."

"You...it's you, and you still won't admit it. You're just being unreasonable."

"How am I being unreasonable? How am I denying it? Everything I said is true. I have absolutely no recollection of what you said. How can you expect me to admit it? It's not that I'm being unreasonable, but even if you try to pin something on me, it won't work. If I really did it, no matter how much I try to deny it, I can't escape the consequences. After listening to you just now, I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I really have no recollection whatsoever. So I think it definitely wasn't me. Maybe you were just half asleep. Hmm, that's it."

Sonoko listened to these words in stunned silence, and was completely dumbfounded...

If it weren't for Xiaolan being there, she would have loved to tell the whole story. Trying hard to suppress her voice, she could only whisper:

"It's no use pretending to fix it."

"Ahem... I really don't know what you're talking about. We need to reason with each other. Sonoko, you need to provide evidence for what you're saying. If you have evidence, I'll admit it. If you don't, you can't accuse me. Also, you need to explain things clearly, what about deleting photos after meeting, and what kind of photos were deleted... If you don't explain these things, if you don't remind me, even if I really did it, I wouldn't remember. So, is that right?"

"Hmph... Xiu, you're such a bad guy, all you do is bully me. You're doing this on purpose because you know I won't dare to say anything."

"Sonoko, don't put all the blame on me! How have I ever bullied you?"

"I can't argue with you anyway, but I'll get my revenge someday. Just you wait, things won't end that easily."

"Oh well, I'll just wait and see. Anyway, I don't know anything, so it won't matter if you try to force it on me. I believe justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent."

So no matter what, I'm not worried at all, because just because something didn't happen to me doesn't mean it can't happen to me. If you still don't believe me, I can swear an oath, a really strong one, right? That should be fine now, right?

Sonoko pouted.

He glanced at Xiaolan, who was quietly listening to their angry argument, and felt even more speechless.

After a while, she said irritably:

"Xiu... I saw it with my own eyes that day, and I even took the photos myself! Even if you can't resist... I can introduce you to someone, I promise..."

"What a load of rubbish! You're just a little girl, and you're learning all sorts of things, like pimping! This is an adult matter, and children shouldn't interfere. Otherwise, if you meddle, you might make things worse. Also... stop overthinking things. You're only seeing the surface; you have no idea what happened that day. So just behave and stop making a fuss."

The garden was so angry with Shiraishi that it trembled.

She didn't know what to say, so she simply threw out a sentence:

"You've gone too far. Why did you delete my photos? Did my photos offend you?"

"The garden..."

Shiraishi Osamu's eyes were full of laughter, but he still deliberately sighed:

"Things aren't as simple as you think. I know what you mean, I know you feel things aren't right, and I understand your ulterior motives... But things aren't as simple as they seem on the surface. If things aren't handled properly, it could hurt a lot of people. When I saw that photo last time, I knew you'd misunderstood. Things are definitely not that simple. So... Sonoko..."

He racked his brains trying to come up with some convincing words.

It took me a while to think of it...

"The reason I deleted that photo... is because I felt it wasn't good for it to remain in your hands. What if it were accidentally exposed? Think about the consequences. A situation that could have been easily explained has become impossible to explain because of what you did..."

Osamu Shiraishi was very satisfied with his performance, but his subsequent words were spoken in a very melancholy tone...

"What happened next is easy to understand... So I deleted the photos, and that kind of uncontrollable thing didn't happen!"

Sonoko nodded subconsciously, feeling a little dizzy, unsure of what was wrong.

She felt that what Shiraishi Osamu said made a lot of sense, but something felt off. However, upon closer inspection, everything made perfect sense.

A voice deep inside her was telling her it was all over, all over, and she should stop clinging on.

She stared blankly at Shiraishi Xiu, her lips moving several times.

If you look closely at her eyes, you'll notice a slight emptiness, even a dullness; this is simply...

I'm totally confused!

This is roughly the state the garden is in at this moment.

Although it seems incredible, when it reaches a certain point, some people can indeed be completely bewildered by a particular person.

Xiaolan looked at the garden without moving, and you asked with a little concern:

"Sonoko, are you alright?"

"I'm fine...I'm fine..."

Sonoko looked at Ran and emphasized it again:

"I'm really fine!"

She looked at Xiaolan, feeling extremely frustrated. She felt a lump in her throat, unable to express it, yet unable to swallow it down. This strange feeling drove her crazy, and she even had the urge to blurt out her thoughts and then all of them would perish together.

But reason told her that she absolutely could not do that. If she did, something terrible would definitely happen here today, something she would regret for the rest of her life.

So for the sake of her good friend Xiaolan, she forced herself to endure it.

Of course, the real culprit was that despicable man—Shiraishi Osamu.

Although my initial motives weren't pure, this man was still despicable, yet hard to let go of.

Seeing that the garden was alright, Xiaolan smiled and said:

"I don't know what to play next."

"Uh... let's wait for Kazuha. We agreed to go together last night. Besides, she's a local, so she'll definitely know where to go."

Hearing this, Xiaolan nodded:

"Yes, let's wait for Kazuha. We don't know when she'll come."

"It should be soon."

Sonoko glared at Shiraishi Osamu and continued:

"Xiaolan, let's go sit over there and chat, it'll be more comfortable there."

"Okay!"

Then the two girls walked towards the public sofa not far away.

Although they are public sofas, they are all very expensive, and a sense of luxury is immediately apparent even before you sit down.

"Sonoko, what exactly were you and Shu arguing about just now?"

"Ah...this..."

Sonoko was a bit at a loss, mainly because she hadn't come up with an excuse to hide it. After thinking for a while, she finally blurted out something:

"It's nothing... just something that's not a big deal, but not a small one either. And in this whole thing, Xiu played the absolute villain, the complete jerk. He's not exactly a bad person, but to me, he's just incredibly wicked. The worst part is, he deleted the evidence I kept, which is just awful. Let me tell you... I was originally planning to use this evidence to blackmail him, no, to teach him a lesson. But we only had a cup of coffee, and I got vomited on, and he took that opportunity to delete my photos. Isn't he wicked, Xiaolan?"

Sonoko talked a lot, but she didn't say a single word about the real issue.

When Xiaolan heard her talk about playing these games, a thoughtful look flashed in her eyes as she seriously considered it.

Finally, she nodded vigorously:

"I think so too. No matter what it is, doing this is indeed a bit excessive."

Upon hearing this, Sonoko was immediately moved. Her best friend was indeed on her side. However, a deep sense of guilt also welled up within her. Not telling her what she knew was far too cruel.

"Xiao Lan... if... one day... well... it's nothing really, it's just that I suddenly feel so happy that you're on my side. If we fight side by side, nothing can defeat us."