Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

I'll just take a taxi there; it's not like I can't get reimbursed for it anyway...

As soon as he arrived at the stairwell, Sano saw a little ball of fluff curled up on the ground, trembling, seemingly busy with something.

Judging from the figure's back, its size, and the location, Sano could basically guess who he had encountered.

What are you doing?

Sano kicked the little girl's bottom.

"what?"

The little girl turned her head in a daze, and the dark face she revealed almost made Sano kick her in fright.

"...Are you... Kamen Rider?"

After suppressing the urge to kick her, Sano finally saw what was on the little girl's face.

The Kamen Rider mask is roughly equivalent to the Ultraman mask that Sano used to buy on the street when he was a child.

Generally speaking, most of these are pirated; things might be slightly better in Japan.

But it was only slightly.

Otherwise, why would the little girl's mask be black?

Isn't this a direct violation of Black Mask's rights?!

That's absolutely outrageous!

It's one thing to use your name to make money, but to not even share it with me is downright provocation!

"Ah, Uncle!"

When the little girl turned her head and saw Sano, her eyes behind the two holes in her mask lit up. Her cheerful greeting showed Sano what it truly meant to have eyes crinkled with laughter.

Of course, that's not important. What's important is—

"Where did you buy this mask?"

However, when faced with Sano's question, the little girl became excited and, pointing to the mask on her face, said irrelevantly, "You mean this? It's cool, right? Super cool, right? Tokyo's Black Mask, the invincible Superman!"

Sano: "..."

Well, as the Black Mask himself, Sano can't deny that the little girl said he's "very handsome".

But this is a completely different matter from the infringement of one's portrait rights!

"First, answer me, where did you buy this mask, okay?"

As he spoke, Sano pulled out a lollipop, attempting to bribe the little girl.

The little girl's eyes lit up again, and she readily accepted Sano's bribe, explaining the situation—the mask was bought for her by her mother from a department store.

Sano bought it some time ago, and based on what the little girl said, he calculated that it was even earlier than when his black masked disguise came out?

Holy crap, this isn't right. How come when you sort it out, the pirated version is now attributed to Sano himself?

...Although Sano is supposed to be a bootleg Kamen Rider, does that mean even Black Mask is a bootleg too?

No, the reason my Kamen Rider keychain takes on a "black mask" form is precisely because the keychain itself is black.

To put it bluntly, the Kamen Rider keychain is a counterfeit product.

Following this line of reasoning, in addition to being a pirated version of Kamen Rider, the black Kamen Rider keychain also seems to be a pirated version of Kamen Rider. Sano's black Kamen Rider vest is a super pirated version of this pirated version.

To take it even further, Kamen Rider is a bootleg of Kamen Rider, Sano...

That's it, we've stolen everything we can.

Sano's burning desire to get to the bottom of the matter and "settle accounts" with the pirates gradually cooled down.

With that reaction, Sano also noticed something strange about the mask on the little girl's face. He squatted down and touched it with his finger, and a black dot immediately appeared on his fingertip. He rubbed it and it spread out.

Sano: "...Did you buy this mask already in black?"

"what?"

The little girl unwrapped the lollipop, removed the mask, and popped it into her mouth: "No, I just painted it black. After all, you can't buy a black mask these days, so I had to make it myself. But it's still pretty cool, isn't it?"

Upon hearing the little girl's explanation, Sano was about to nod in sudden understanding when he saw her fair face covered with black marks after she removed her mask. His voice instantly caught in his throat, unable to come out or swallow.

"...Yeah, he really is handsome."

Sano got up and patted the little girl's head, trying his best to suppress the urge to smile. He no longer cared whether it was a pirated copy or not, and he couldn't comment on whether the black mask the little girl made herself was cool or not.

The only thing Sano is absolutely certain of right now is that this little girl is definitely going to get a beating tonight.

"So you must wear this mask properly and not take it off easily. The task of saving the earth and maintaining world peace all depends on you!"

Sano patted the little girl's shoulder solemnly, making her eyes shine brighter and brighter.

"Ok!"

The little girl nodded solemnly, then pulled the lollipop out of her mouth, put the black mask down again, struck a pose, and laughed loudly: "I am the embodiment of light, the messenger of justice, the black mask, wahahahaha!"

"Hehe... Keep it up!"

After encouraging the little girl, Sano quickly left... He was afraid that if he was a step too late, he would burst out laughing.

If the little girl notices something's wrong and washes her face clean, it won't be fun.

Soon, Sano arrived at the Metropolitan Police Department.

At the main entrance, Conan and the other four members of the team had all arrived.

...Actually, it should have been one of the Mori father and daughter, or Professor Agasa, who led these five kids to take the notes.

Chapter 288, 287, Takagi: What are you saying?

However, after learning that Sano would also be coming, these five little devils were simply handed over to him.

Of course, Sano didn't really need to do anything; he just needed to make sure the five kids were all together and not missing any limbs when they arrived at the destination.

Otherwise, if it really requires a waste of effort, Sano wouldn't bother with them.

"Hello, Sano-nii!"

The trio of real kids bowed and greeted Sano. After the incident on the Suzuki family's ship and John's case, the trio and Sano, while not exactly having a great relationship, had at least grown closer.

Sano no longer sees these three brats simply as brats.

And these three mischievous kids also realized that Sano wasn't some cold-blooded, ruthless, and completely uncommunicative "killer"... but that was all they understood.

The trio would certainly not agree that Sano is kind or approachable.

As for the trio... to be precise, it should be a group of five. No matter how cute and obedient they are, Sano still doesn't accept it. However, when they are in front of him, they are passable.

"Ah."

Sano nodded and didn't waste any more words. He led his team into the Metropolitan Police Department and bumped into Takagi Wataru, who came out to greet them.

"...Inspector Megure originally said he would personally receive you, but because of the robbery at Toto Bank last night, and the kidnappers even took Inspector Megure's wife hostage, he has been leading the team working on that case."

Before giving his statement, Takagi Wataru explained the situation in a long, rambling manner.

...Another bank robbery?

Sano began to wonder; he seemed to have a knack for these kinds of cases... although in terms of sheer numbers, murder cases seemed to be more prevalent.

"Alright, let's get our statements done quickly. I have a date at 5 p.m. tonight, so I need to get this done fast."

Upon hearing this, Sano, who had snapped out of his daze, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and say, "Oh, I didn't realize you had a girlfriend, Officer Takagi."

Takagi Wataru blushed: "What are you saying, Sano? That's a bit too disrespectful... Although I really don't have a girlfriend."

Sano: "...So you don't have a girlfriend? Then what kind of date are you planning?"

"What are you talking about? Who said you have to go on a date with your girlfriend?"

"Oh, is that a date with your boyfriend?"

"My sexual orientation is normal!!"

"Come on, dating doesn't necessarily mean dating your boyfriend, it could also be... someone you're in love with or something."

Takagi Wataru's face changed several times in just a few seconds. First it turned black, then green, and finally red.

Sano was amazed by what he saw.

This face-changing skill is comparable to Kaito Kuroba's.

But then again, can you go on a date with your "sweetheart"? Isn't dating a term that should only exist between boyfriends and girlfriends?

Sano stroked his chin, lost in thought; this was somewhat of an area where his knowledge was lacking…

"...Oh, so Officer Takagi has someone he likes. I thought he was the kind of person who had given up on love because he was dressed so sloppily."

The three real children huddled together and whispered.

"Huh? Sano, you're here."

Just then, Miwako Sato walked in and greeted Sano.

Takagi Wataru, whose face was already flushed with embarrassment, was immediately startled when he heard Sato Miwako's voice, and his cheeks turned even redder: "S-Officer Sato, why are you back? Weren't you on a case with Inspector Megure?"

"Ah, because the person in charge of Dongdu Bank called me last night and said that he remembered something, so he asked me to meet him here today. He said that he and his wife would come over together at two o'clock."

Miwako Sato said this.

Ok?

Sano, who was originally planning to tease Takagi Wataru for some fun, frowned immediately upon hearing this.

Is it another robbery at Dongdu Bank?

Bank robberies typically involve substantial sums of money stolen, and the robbers are usually armed with at least a handgun, so the police naturally take them very seriously.

This case should have been reported, even though Sano didn't see it.

Of course, more importantly, this case was brought up twice in front of Sano... or more accurately, in front of Conan, that plague god.

If you say nothing else happened after that, who would believe you?

Sure enough, Takagi Wataru immediately said in surprise, "What? But the wife of that person in charge called me similarly last night, saying that she would come over alone at five o'clock, as if she had some important clue to tell me."

The couple had conflicting statements: one said they would come together at 2 PM, while the other said they would come alone at 5 PM.