Ke Xue: I have a knife, and you still dare to fight me?

.........

Kurokawasaki Tsuki, who had finished playing with the parrot dog in the yard, was about to go back to sleep when the doorbell rang.

"Is there anyone else who can contact me?" Kurokawa wondered.

Through the courtyard gate, Kurokawa immediately saw the three people standing at the entrance.

Kurokawasaki Tsuki: "?"

Is Death going to film an episode at my house?

Chapter Fifteen: Visiting

"Why are you here? Come in quickly." Although he didn't know how Death had gotten into his house, since he was already here, he couldn't just turn him away.

Kurokawasaki Tsuki opened the door and gestured for him to enter.

"Excuse me, Kurokawa-nii," Ran said, pressing her palms together.

"Good afternoon, Kurokawa-nii," Shinichi said politely.

"Kurokawa-nii, hello, it's been a long time." Sonoko said in her gentlest tone, her face flushed.

Kurokawa smiled and nodded in response.

As soon as they entered, Shinichi began to look around.

The house is quite big.

Kurokawa invited the group to sit down in the living room, and then he was about to take a few bottles of orange juice from the refrigerator for them, but then he thought better of it.

What if you can't drink iced drinks?

He turned around and went back to the living room to brew a pot of oolong tea for the group.

Ran and Sonoko sat on the sofa in the living room, feeling an indescribable comfort. The room was still bright even without the lights on, and they could see the green scenery outside at a glance. There was also a faint, pleasant fragrance that made them feel at ease.

During this time, Shinichi, unable to contain his detective instincts, began wandering around Kurokawa's house.

Looking around, I found that Kurokawa's house was quite clean.

Shinichi walked to the windowsill.

Through the sliding doors of the living room's floor-to-ceiling windows, you can see the courtyard outside.

There was a cherry blossom tree in the yard, some bamboo planted along the wall, and a very thick rush mat cut from the grass placed in the middle of the yard. Shinichi found it incredible.

He immediately pushed open the window and came to the courtyard.

Shinichi examined the cross-section; it was smooth and clean, confirming that it was cut with a knife in one stroke, unlike what he would have done with some kind of tool.

"How fast and powerful must that have been?" Shinichi exclaimed in shock.

Kurokawa's reasoning skills were better than his, and his combat abilities were also so high. He thought that Kurokawa's kick that shattered the armor was already the limit, and he felt that if Ran hadn't panicked at the time, she might have been able to do it too.

Shinichi now realizes he underestimated Kurokawa.

Seeing Shinichi's actions, Ran became curious and got up to come over. "What's wrong, Shinichi?"

When Ran came out, she saw Shinichi staring blankly at the cross-section of a large bundle of rush mats. Ran was also stunned, but she quickly came to terms with it and thought it made perfect sense, after all, he was the world kendo champion.

Judging from Shinichi's appearance, Ran probably hasn't been paying attention to martial arts news. Kurokawa is quite low-key; if she hadn't been following this kind of news, she wouldn't have known that Kurokawa was so strong without making a sound.

"Hey, you two, it's your first time visiting someone's house and you're just wandering around like that, that's very rude," Sonoko said, following over.

Xiaolan belatedly realized that it was indeed impolite.

When Kurokawa Saki returned after making tea, he found the living room empty. Looking ahead, he saw several people gathered in the courtyard.

He put down the teapot and came to the courtyard.

"My yard is pretty good, isn't it? Every plant and tree here has been carefully cultivated by me," Kurokawa said to them with a smile.

Upon seeing Kurokawa arrive, Shinichi quickly asked, "Kurokawa-nii, did you cut this rush mat?"

Kurokawa finally understood why they were gathered there.

"Yes, I've been slacking off lately, only occasionally testing myself to see if my skill level has declined."

Shinichi was even more shocked.

"Let me show you around my yard."

Kurokawa Saki began to introduce the various plants in the yard to the group.

"This is..., this is..., and this is..."

After the introduction, the three of them felt they had learned a lot, never expecting that such a small yard could have so many varieties.

At this moment, Xiaolan noticed the doghouse next to her.

"Does Kurokawa-kun still keep a dog at home?"

"Yes, it's a Chinese rural dog named Dahuang. But it's probably out playing now and won't be back for a while. Otherwise, it would be very happy to make more friends with the kids."

"That's a real shame." Xiaolan was a little disappointed, then she noticed the potted plant next to the doghouse, where two parrots were standing on it, tilting their heads and staring at her.

"So cute! Are these also kept by Kurokawa-ge?" Xiaolan wanted to get closer, but was afraid they would fly away.

“Yes, you can tease them; they’re not afraid of strangers.” Kurokawa nodded.

Shinichi noticed that they didn't have anklets.

"They must have been raised from a baby, which is why they didn't need to be handcuffed."

"You've guessed wrong, Kudo-kun."

"Huh? Isn't that right?"

"I bought them when I bought my dog, Dahuang, but I didn't expect them to stay and refuse to leave."

"Is this like this?"

Shinichi found it strange; logically, shouldn't it fly away as soon as the cage is opened if you're not careful?

While he was thinking, Ran and Sonoko had already gotten started.

One person plays with one.

"It feels great, Ran."

"Yes, the feathers are so smooth."

Kurokawa smiled without saying a word. Because he often tormented these two silly birds, he felt guilty, so he bought them the best food and supplies in the store. It would be strange if they didn't feel good.

After playing around for a while, Xiaolan finally remembered her business.

"By the way, Kurokawa-kun, I came today to invite you to watch my match. I have a karate match the day after tomorrow."

"The day after tomorrow? The regional qualifiers for the Japan Martial Arts Tournament?"

"Yeah, the Kanto region qualifiers for high school karate are the day after tomorrow. I really hope Kurokawa-nii can come and watch the competition."

"Okay, I will definitely be there."

"Really? That's great!" Xiaolan smiled happily.

"Yay! Let's all cheer for Ran the day after tomorrow! I believe Ran will definitely win!" Sonoko cheered, thinking that she could sit next to Kurokawa-nii then...

Yuanzi started having wild thoughts, and her image as a well-bred young lady crumbled once again.

Then, the group chatted and drank tea in the living room.

It was during a casual conversation that Shinichi and Sonoko learned that Kurokawa was actually this year's world kendo champion.

"What?! When did this happen?" Shinichi was shocked once again.

"That happened two years ago." Kurokawasaki Tsuki waved his hand dismissively.

Xiaolan asked curiously, "Will Kurokawa-san participate again next year?"

"We'll talk about that later," Kurokawa replied, taking a sip of tea from his cup.

This year marks the beginning of the Conan era, and Kurokawa thought to himself, "I'll definitely participate after this year."

Before we knew it, the sun was about to set, and the afterglow of the sunset bathed the living room in a golden hue.

Looking at the courtyard now reveals a completely different scene.

"Wow, it's so beautiful." Xiaolan was stunned by the view before her.

Even Shinichi couldn't help but praise, "What a unique view. It's so simple, yet it has that... what's the word for it?"

"You mean to talk about artistic conception, right?" Kurokawa asked.

"Yes, that's the artistic conception."

"The lighting and layout here are inspired by the design of ancient Chinese gardens, and the courtyard has also been carefully designed and arranged by me so that you can see the scenery outside at different times of the year from inside the house."

"Wow, that's amazing! It's even better than the design of my house!" Sonoko's eyes burned with excitement.

"You flatter me." Kurokawa was a little embarrassed by the compliment, feeling a kind of joy that his long-planned little detail had finally been discovered. He picked up his teacup to cover it up.

He glanced at the time; it was almost lunchtime, so he asked them if they wanted to stay and try his cooking.

"Hey, it's so late, I won't bother you any longer, I need to go back and cook for my dad," Xiaolan said shyly.

"We'll head back now, Kurokawa-nii." Shinichi and Sonoko also said goodbye to Kurokawa.

"Take care." Kurokawa stood at the door and watched them leave.

Chapter Sixteen: The Case Calls

As the sun sets, it's usually time for Dahuang to come home. Once he gets home, he can almost eat the meal his owner has prepared.

Big Yellow was secretly pleased with himself.

Suddenly, Dahuang smelled a familiar scent—the scent of home, the scent of the sofa where it often lay.

Big Yellow followed the scent and went up to it.

These are the people on their way home.

"It's such a pity I didn't get to try Kurokawa-san's cooking," Sonoko said regretfully on the way.

"There will be other opportunities in the future, Sonoko. It would be too much trouble for Kurokawa-nii," Ran comforted her.

"Okay, let's come again next time." Sonoko started daydreaming again.

Suddenly, Shinichi, who was walking behind the two women, felt something bump into his feet.

Looking down, he saw a dog sniffing him.

"Huh? Where did this dog come from?"

Sure enough, no one can resist a dog that comes up to them.

Shinichi squatted down and petted the dog.

Sonoko and Ran, who were walking ahead, turned around when they heard the sound.

"What a beautiful dog, is it a stray?" Sonoko wondered.

"No way, stray dogs shouldn't be this clean," Xiaolan said, looking at the garden.

Shinichi then spoke up: "It's definitely not a stray dog; it's even wearing a collar."

Shinichi was fiddling with Big Yellow's collar when he turned the dog tag that Big Yellow had tossed behind back around.

"It even has a name, it's called... Rhubarb?!"

"Hey? Is Kurokawa-san's dog also named this?" Xiaolan quickly squatted down to look at its dog tag.

Turning the dog tag around, Xiaolan saw the address and contact information on it. Well, it really is Kurokawa's dog.

"What a coincidence! Could this be some kind of destiny between us?" Sonoko continued to daydream.

Shinichi and Ran chose to ignore her.

"Rabbit seems to really like you, Shinichi," Ran said, noticing Rabbit sniffing Shinichi and wagging its tail. "Should we send it back to Kurokawa-san?"

"I think it might have picked up some of Kurokawa's scent. Dogs are very sensitive to smells, so that's why it kept sniffing me. Maybe it's not because it likes me, but just because it likes my scent."

"Besides, Kurokawa-ge also said that it would go home on its own. Maybe that's why Kurokawa-ge let it go out to play. Let's hurry up and go home."