Isn't it very scientific to use the Death Note to kill people?

“That’s right. During the time that Yoshiki-ge was in the United States, I was trying to replicate this thing, and then I made it.” With her hands behind her back, Xiaolan’s smile was very bright.

"That's amazing..."

He was somewhat surprised.

Because in his eyes, they looked exactly the same, both in appearance and aroma.

"This is not difficult at all. But for Yoshiki-san, it must be quite a headache that he can only eat his favorite foods in the morning, right?"

Lin Jiashu was taken aback upon hearing this.

"Thank you, Xiaolan... but why are you suddenly doing this?"

"Because I also want to do what I can for Jia Shu Ge."

"..."

"Jia Shu is always the one giving to others, while I'm always the one being taken care of, but..."

Speaking of this, Xiaolan recalled the "last words" of Jiashu that she heard that day. Even though she hadn't done anything, Jiashu said he could feel her thoughtfulness.

She always felt sad whenever she thought about this.

Along with this came guilt and shame—Xiaolan wasn't the kind of girl who could take other people's kindness for granted; she always hoped for a two-way exchange, and even hoped to do more herself…

"But what I said that day was from the bottom of my heart."

"Huh?"

"Your expression, which wears its own heart on your sleeve, tells me everything at a glance."

Facing the girl who blushed instantly after her secret was exposed, Lin Jiashu smiled gently:

“But what I said is true.”

"Do you remember that time you jumped off the Twin Towers skyscraper?"

"Actually, I was also very scared at that time, afraid that if I really couldn't do it, I might accidentally hurt Xiaolan..."

Lin Jiashu's tone lowered as he spoke.

But he was smiling.

She smiled very gently: "But, Xiaolan, you smiled and said that even if it didn't work out, it wouldn't matter. I don't think I'll ever forget the look on your face back then."

"And it was the same at the Fantasyland."

"...Only you noticed that the cases that Uncle Mori and I took on were somewhat dangerous. So even though the cases have been solved, I really felt very warm."

"Therefore, Xiaolan, please don't feel like you haven't done anything."

"You've already done a lot."

At this point, Lin Jiashu reached out and patted Xiaolan's head.

The girl blushed slightly, looking a little flustered.

She never expected that Yoshiki would remember these things, and that he seemed to be deeply affected by them...

She felt a little embarrassed when she thought about how Jia Shu thought of her.

"But compared to Yoshiki-san—"

She lowered her head and spoke softly, but halfway through her sentence, a hand reached out in front of her as if to flick her forehead, making her swallow her words.

Are we comparing ourselves to each other?

Lin Jiashu finally flicked her forehead with his finger, but with very light force.

Xiao Lan immediately pursed her lips and looked up at him.

After a while,

"I understand..."

Her tone sounded a bit like she was being coquettish.

Looking at those slightly pouting lips, Lin Jiashu really wanted to get closer.

He almost took action—but when he got close, he stopped and clearly looked away as if he had realized something.

Xiao Lan was startled.

She widened her eyes in surprise.

It's happening again...

Did Yoshiki's actions just now really mean he wanted to kiss her?

Looking at the handsome man so close to her, she blushed and her eyes wavered, looking somewhat confused.

The first time this happened, Xiaolan could still deceive herself by thinking that she was just overthinking things.

But this is the second time.

There's no mistake, Jia Shu really cares about himself—

"what happened?"

Admiring her disheveled appearance, Lin Jiashu smiled gently.

No, no.

272

Chapter 272: A Complex Mind

"Xiaolan, what's wrong with you? You seem a bit absent-minded lately."

That was after school at Teitan High School.

Sonoko and Ran, who had no club activities, decided to take some photo booth pictures. On the way, Sonoko suddenly said this.

"Is there?"

"Yeah, I feel like you've been getting really distracted lately. I was so excited talking to you about it just now, but it seems like you didn't hear a thing."

At this point, Sonoko's expression suddenly turned teasing: "What do you mean, are you perhaps in love?"

"What did you say?!"

"Isn't that right? The only things that can attract so much attention from teenage girls are outstanding boys!"

"...You really are something."

Xiao Lan muttered to herself.

She felt inexplicably guilty.

Although it wasn't because she was experiencing puberty, she had been thinking about Yoshiki Hayashi a lot lately.

Once she realized that Yoshiki-san seemed to have feelings for her, she found it hard not to care.

When my mind is blank, I can't help but think of the look in his eyes when I was about to jump, and the way he almost kissed my lips but stopped himself at the last second—

The tired, vulnerable, yet tender expression he wore after the case at Fantasy Park was over...

Finally, there was that time in the office when he almost kissed me again...

Perhaps it's a case of thinking about something during the day and dreaming about it at night; last night, while sleeping, Xiaolan suddenly dreamed about Lin Jiashu.

In his dream, he didn't stop moving this time, but actually kissed her.

This caused Xiaolan to be extremely confused when she woke up.

She wasn't averse to it, but she was genuinely at a loss. In her confusion, many things were on her mind: she thought of Shinichi Kudo, then of Sonoko, who had always admired Yoshiki, and then of her mother, who seemed to be constantly encouraging her to get close to Yoshiki...

"Your expression is suspicious?"

Seeing that Xiaolan had fallen silent again for some reason, Sonoko couldn't help but pinch her chin and raise her eyebrows.

"It's really nothing! Okay, let's go take some photo booth pictures!"

"Oh, don't push me, I can walk by myself."

Sonoko was pushed by Ran towards the photo booth machine on the side—with Ran's strength, Sonoko had no chance to stop.

Ran put aside her complicated thoughts and happily took some photo booth pictures with Sonoko.

There are indeed quite a few different styles of machines around here.

After taking a bunch of funny photos, Sonoko even took a wedding-themed selfie by herself with a grin.

"Hehe, if a handsome guy I like writes me a letter, I'll stick this photo on... who knows, it might work wonders!"

Are you serious?

"Of course I'm joking, but to be honest, because of Yoshiki-san, my standards for handsome guys have risen quite a bit."

"...Is Sonoko still very interested in Yoshiki-nii?"

"Of course!"

When Lin Jiashu was mentioned, Sonoko's face lit up, but she quickly fell and changed the subject: "But the problem is that I feel that he is too difficult to get along with. He is always gentle and calm, but no matter what he does, it is difficult to shorten the distance... I am wondering if Jiashu-nii is the type that can only be admired from afar."

"...Is that so?"

"Because it's really hard to imagine what it would be like to win him over. Maybe only a girl who has successfully saved the galaxy could make his heart flutter?"

"That's way too much."

That's just how I see it.

"Sister Xiaolan!!"

Just as the two were chatting, they heard a child's voice from not far away.

Conan ran over.

Ran and Sonoko weren't surprised, since they had already arranged to meet here.

As the three of them continued their stroll down the street, they suddenly spotted a blonde American woman showing off her shooting skills in front of a shooting arcade machine, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers who were all amazed.

"Isn't that...?"

"Ms. Judy?"

The two of them walked over instinctively.

Judy Starling, who had just finished the game and put away her light gun, looked over with some surprise: "Is it Mori-kun and Suzuki-kun?"

The onlookers, who were drawn in by her gaming skills and figure, started gossiping when they learned that the foreign woman in front of them was actually a high school teacher. Judy quickly pulled Lan and the others away.

The three adults were talking. Although Conan was surprised by the standard way Judy had held the gun, he didn't make any wild guesses. While looking around aimlessly out of boredom, he spotted an unexpected figure.

"Brother Jiashu?"

"Conan?"

Lin Jiashu was surprised for a moment, and then when he saw the blonde foreign girl next to Xiaolan and the others, the strong impression made him quickly remember the scene.

"Yoshiki-nii!!" Sonoko immediately waved happily.

"Brother Jiashu..." Xiaolan greeted softly.

"Hmm, what brings you here today?"

Lin Jiashu smiled, then looked at Xiaolan with some concern: "What's wrong, Xiaolan? You look a little listless."

"No...it's probably just that the air here is stuffy."

Xiao Lan explained casually.

Yoshiki-san was unaware that he had been "exposed," so he couldn't let his reaction be too obvious...

"Who is this handsome guy?"

Judy asked in surprise.

Sonoko immediately jumped out and introduced the two sides to each other.

Jodie Starling, an FBI agent, went under the alias "Jodie St. Timilion" to teach English at Teitan High School in order to track down Vermouth—her appearance means that Shuichi Akai is about to make his debut.

Hayashi Yoshiki was quite interested in that silver bullet that could rival Gin.

"But I didn't know that Yoshiki would come to a place like this to play games?" Xiaolan asked in surprise.

"No, I should say I'm here to work."