Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

The important thing is that Sano's mission target this time is Hattori Heiji's territory.

That means Conan wouldn't get involved.

Anyway, Sano doesn't believe it.

I never imagined that Conan's cursed aura would grow so fast. He's not even satisfied with Tokyo anymore; he's even causing trouble in Osaka, which is so far away.

Next time, are you going to Hokkaido?

...That sounds pretty good. I'm busy anyway, so a business trip can be treated like a vacation. Maybe I can even find an opportunity to complete the national domination mission.

Sano snapped out of his daze, opened the instant noodle lid, and then his gaze froze on the newspaper underneath.

"Wanted! Serial killer Kiichiro Numabuchi, extremely dangerous!"

This newspaper is from a few days ago.

Because no missions have been triggered in the past few days, and Sano has been busy improving his organization's mission performance, he has inevitably been reading the newspaper less.

...Most importantly, there was a photo that looked very familiar to Sano on the wanted poster in that report.

At this moment, Sano finally understood why the name Numabuchi Kiichiro had seemed so familiar earlier; he had already experienced that familiarity once before.

He was the prospective peripheral member who was locked in the laboratory and subjected to human experiments.

Damn it, from the photo Gin gave him to the name of the system task, and finally to the name and photo in the report, Sano finally recognized this guy.

...If it's not just a pure coincidence, then it really puts the world's will in a difficult position.

I'm really sorry for having such a bad memory.

Looking at the remaining mission time limit of only one and a half days, Sano couldn't help but sigh deeply.

There wasn't even time to prepare for it, really.

They're practically working themselves to death trying to boost their sales figures.

Chapter 242, page 241: The diapers are almost gone!

Sano picked up the instant noodles and shoveled them into his mouth, finishing the task in ten seconds. Then he wiped his mouth, washed up, and went out to take out the trash.

Time is tight, so it's better to leave quickly. Let's just throw out the trash and go buy the train ticket.

Unfortunately, Sano, who had originally thought that way, bumped into the two best friends and the two fake children who were about to go upstairs after going down the stairs.

Upon seeing this, Sano was stunned for a moment, and then his gaze slowly lowered, landing on the cube-shaped transparent packaging box that Suzuki Sonoko was holding in her arms.

The cake, adorned with bright red strawberries and decorated with a creamy "Happy Birthday" message, is clearly visible.

"..."

Damn, is this still not over? I deliberately avoided you yesterday, and you still came today?

Sano tried to pretend he didn't see it and turn around and leave, but of course he was stopped anyway.

So the five of them sat down on the grass next to the stairwell and blew out the candles.

"We originally planned to come and celebrate your birthday with you yesterday, but we ran into a case and were delayed, so we could only come today."

Sonoko Suzuki rambled on, explaining why they couldn't come to celebrate Sano's birthday yesterday.

However, Sano had no intention of listening to the other party's explanation.

...Of course, I wasn't angry because of that. I just inexplicably remembered asking Sonoko Suzuki for the correct answer in order to eliminate wrong answers.

It feels like... a twist of fate?

This seems to have a similar effect.

Speaking of which, Conan, that jinx, killed someone again yesterday. I wonder which unlucky soul it was.

"Luckily, the weather isn't too hot right now, so the cake won't spoil even if you leave it out for a day. Alright, senior, make a wish now."

Sano paused for two seconds, then blew out the candle.

"Yay! Although it's a day late, congratulations on getting another year older!"

After making a couple of loud noises, Suzuki Sonoko approached Sano with a curious expression.

"By the way, what did you wish for, senior? Love, wealth, or a dream?"

"Hey, Sonoko, if you tell me your wish, it won't come true."

Ran Mouri complained.

"Sigh, it's too small-minded, the vision is too narrow."

Sonoko Suzuki waved her hand dismissively: "I didn't ask him what he wished for, I just asked him about which aspect, so it's definitely fine."

...Sano felt that directly telling Miss Suzuki her wish might have a better chance of it coming true than praying to gods and Buddhas.

In other words—isn't this just like the turtle spirit in the wishing well?

Of course, Sano couldn't really let Sonoko Suzuki fulfill his wish.

Firstly, Sano isn't thick-skinned enough, and secondly, his appetite is too big, so the other party is unlikely to help him achieve it. But if Xu is too small, he won't be interested.

It's better not to even consider this idea, to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"I made a wish that this plague god would harm fewer people."

Sano gave a calm answer, leaving the others completely bewildered and asking questions.

"Uncle, you should stop harming people, right?"

Hearing the voice from the side, which was full of resentment but still sounded childish, Sano raised an eyebrow and turned his head.

Then Sano met the gaze of the chubby-faced boy who was wedged between the iron railings of the stairs.

That's right, it's the little girl who lives next door to Sano.

Since our last meeting, Sano was hospitalized the next day, and it's been quite a while since I've seen this little girl.

...I never expected that after so long, this girl would still remember that incident.

They hold grudges quite a bit.

After staring into the little girl's resentful eyes for a few seconds, Sano picked up a piece of cake he had just cut.

"Want some?"

"Oh, is that alright?"

The little girl's resentment vanished instantly, replaced by bright, blinking eyes, and she was practically drooling.

"can."

Sano nodded in affirmation, and the little girl immediately used both hands to pull her head out from between the iron bars, thanking him as she ate her cake.

Looking at the little girl with cream smeared all over her mouth, the two best friends asked in surprise, "Senior, isn't this the little girl you picked up last time?"

Both of them paused after the word "up" and repeated it, clearly not forgetting the real Ai Haibara from the last time, which also made the two fake children next to them look strange.

For the two fake children, it was no secret that Sano had taken Ai Haibara home, but they were unaware that he had taken in another little girl before Ai Haibara.

...Does Sano have some kind of special fetish in this area?

A perverted lolicon?

Ai Haibara tightened her clothes and instinctively took a step back.

Instead, what came to Ai Haibara's mind was the scene after she was taken in by Sano.

He loudly proclaims himself to be her father. Conan said that when Ran Mouri lost her memory last time, Sano also lied and said he was her biological father.

In addition, there's the factor of Sano's mental instability...

Could it be that Sano has some special attachment to this character?

Sano glanced at the two fake children and nodded, "Yeah, she lives next door to me. We bumped into each other a few more times and got to know each other."

"I see……"

Under the watchful eyes of the others, who seemed to be watching a stray cat eat, the little girl finished the entire cake.

After the little girl licked the cream off her lips and thanked her again, she immediately changed her expression and brought up the old matter again.

"Don't think you can bribe me with a piece of cake. I didn't say I would forgive you."

The little girl put her hands on her hips and pouted as she spoke.

forgive?

Only then did the group of four remember what the little girl had said at the beginning, and they all looked at Sano with confusion.

...What did Sano do to make such a little girl hold such a grudge?

"Yeah."

To this, Sano calmly extended his palm and said, "Then give me back the cake you just ate."

The little girl stared blankly at him: "You didn't say I had to forgive you just because I ate that piece of cake!"

"But I didn't say that the cake was free."

Sano calmly put his hands in his pockets.

The little girl gritted her teeth and reluctantly pulled out a few coins from her pocket: "But I only have a little over a hundred yuan on me..."

"This cake is a custom-made piece from the most high-end cake shop using the finest ingredients. Your slice cost me at least several thousand or tens of thousands of dollars. Do you think a hundred dollars is enough?"

Sano's words made Sonoko Suzuki blink.

Is that so? How come I didn't know that?

After receiving Sano's answer, the little girl's eyes began to well up with tears, and her nose started to twitch.

Ran Mouri couldn't stand it anymore and tugged at Sano's clothes: "Senpai..."

Sano glanced at Ran Mouri, then looked at the little girl and asked, "Do you know you were wrong?"

The little girl lowered her head and nodded pitifully, "I know..."

"What's wrong?"

Sano asked indifferently.