Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

If you turn a blind eye occasionally, it will pass.

If they play like this every day, even if the homeroom teacher is your father, it won't help.

"...Hasn't the reason already been explained?"

Sano picked at his ear: "We have dance practice tonight, and we have to go on stage tomorrow morning."

"...It wouldn't be a problem if we refused this kind of parent-child game, would it?"

"What, is there some particularly important mission that I have to take on?"

No, not at all.

"Then what's there to say?"

"..."

Gin on the other end of the phone was already a bit confused.

Human habits are a very dangerous thing.

At first, Sano worked diligently, but later he became increasingly lazy.

Let alone perfect attendance, even working three days a week and resting two days a week would be considered a compliment.

In particular, Gin himself kept Sano by his side, making him a mascot who slacked off and was merely an accessory in every mission.

It doesn't seem wrong for Sano to take leave unless absolutely necessary.

...This seemed to have become an irrefutable rule.

So much so that when Gin was asked this by Sano, he didn't realize anything was wrong for a moment, and was completely speechless and had no answer.

He hesitated for a moment, then stopped, then seemed ready to speak again.

"...Contact me again when you're ready to work."

Faced with this chaotic situation, Gin had no choice but to take a drastic step and temporarily escape.

"Okay, I get it now."

Sano hung up the phone immediately, leaving Gin, who had the phone pressed to his ear, listening to the dial tone for a long time without making a move... What was that feeling?

Something seems to be getting increasingly wrong.

"Big...Big brother?"

Vodka, who was standing nearby not daring to breathe, finally couldn't help but weakly utter a sound before suffocating himself, testing Gin's condition.

Gin snapped out of his daze, put down his phone, and let out a breath.

"Let's get to work."

"Yes……"

……

The next day.

The corner intersection of the road in front of Futaba Kindergarten.

Sano didn't know why a kindergarten parent-child activity would be held in such a public place... but considering the nature of the performance.

Perhaps it's also a form of publicity.

Anyway, there were quite a lot of passersby watching the show.

Among them, four guys who had just visited the Sano family yesterday with ulterior motives were the most excited... especially Sonoko Suzuki, who somehow managed to get her hands on a really professional-looking camera... I think this kind of thing is called a cannon, right?

This was the first time Sano had ever seen one; it looked a bit like an astronomical telescope.

"Next up, please welcome..."

I heard the kindergarten teacher in charge of hosting announce the programs for her two groups.

Sano snapped out of his daze and went on stage with the little girl.

According to the little girl, Futaba Kindergarten has three classes, each with about forty or fifty students. Including their parents, the performance will have about three hundred people, with each performance averaging about twenty or thirty people.

Not too much, not too little.

Logically speaking... if this were a class performance in Sano's previous life, it would be very easy for this number of people to minimize their presence.

The problem is...

Of these twenty or thirty people, half are kindergarten children, and the other half are...

Sano is simply too outstanding.

It's not just because of her good looks and temperament, but also because of her age.

Parents of kindergarten children, excluding those with a second child or those who have children late in life, are probably not very old, at most in their thirties.

...But he was still a full twelve years older than Sano.

It could be due to mere novelty, or it could be for the sake of appreciation.

In any case, Sano has become the undisputed center of attention.

Even some of the mothers, who were supposed to be filming their husbands and children's performances, couldn't help but turn their cameras towards Sano because the fathers in the show had joined in... Fortunately, although the costumes for the performances were uniform, they weren't particularly childish.

Wearing a floral tracksuit, Sano stood behind the little girl, straightening his usually lazy posture slightly, and tapping his feet to the beat of the music.

"Let's all do what we can!"

Let's dance together!

"Out of the pot, the old man who loves to lie has made his appearance!"

"..."

With a blank expression, Sano started jumping, spinning, and leaping along with the lyrics, while I closed my eyes... cough, I meant to match the movements of the person next to me.

And after Sano started dancing.

The voices that had been coming from the audience, some loud and some soft, suddenly stopped, and there was complete silence.

...It's not that Sano danced particularly well...no, it is true that he danced well, but the fundamental reason is not that the dance was particularly moving.

After all, this song itself doesn't have any dance.

Other creators have simply choreographed all sorts of dances for it.

The version specified by the kindergarten is one of the more visually appealing versions, but it's also very simple... After all, even kindergarten children need to learn it.

all in all.

There's not much to say about the dance itself.

The problem is that Sano jumped too well... or rather, too perfectly.

Of the twenty or thirty people on stage, half were children, so naturally they couldn't possibly dance very well.

The other half of the parents, either because they didn't have enough practice time, or because they were perfunctory and lazy, or because they subconsciously danced in a very affected way in order to match the children...

Anyway, it just made Sano jump better and stand out more.

Finally, there's the issue of contrast.

This is a cute song, and the choreography reflects that style. As mentioned before, it's a song even kindergarten kids can dance to... For Sano, a grown man, to dance it so well and so earnestly is truly... quite...

It's hard to put into words.

It's similar to seeing classmates performing the exercises perfectly during recess when you're in school... to be honest.

Conan thought...

When Sano comes here and goes on stage, there are only two possible reactions.

One is a forced composure that is mostly awkward.

The other is to simply do a perfunctory job with mostly dissatisfaction.

Regardless of the type, it can be considered a gain for Conan, at least.

But Conan never expected that this guy would be so...perfect?

They take it all too seriously, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

This gives people an involuntary sense of horror, like their scalp tingling or even their skin exploding.

This isn't a place to vent your anger, it's a place to suffer!

Ai Haibara, who was standing next to her, had a similar feeling.

However, compared to Conan, Ai Haibara's reaction was not as obvious.

As for the two best friends...

Although there are subtle differences in purpose between Conan and Ai Haibara, the fake child duo, the underlying principle is the same. Therefore, in addition to feeling shocked, there is also a very awkward feeling... as if I have done something wrong that I shouldn't have done.

It was extremely awkward.

"Da da da la li la~"

"Crackling crackling~"

"Baba baba la~"

"..."

The performance continued.

As the music played, a few dazed onlookers felt that the wind was a bit noisy today, making their hair messy, but they didn't care to fix it.

But what Conan, who was already completely bewildered, didn't notice was...

At the far end of the road, a black Porsche was approaching.

"...Big brother, will Rye come today?"

Hearing Vodka's question, Gin, who was flipping through the operating funds statement in his hand, absentmindedly replied, "I don't know, not yet..."

"squeak--!!"

The sudden braking almost caused Gin to crash directly into the windshield.

Fortunately, Gin always obeyed the law and had his seatbelt fastened properly, so he didn't actually crash. But before he could get angry, he heard Vodka's terrified scream from the side—"Big-Big-Big Brother!!"