Shimizu Koji had originally planned to keep messing with Haibara Ai a bit longer—playing with her while quietly probing her mental state. But just after finishing the massage and tucking the blanket back around her, a phone call came in.
"Hm? It's Kudo calling."
He said it aloud for Haibara Ai's benefit, though the little girl's cheeks were still flushed and she didn't seem to care at the moment.
"Hello?"
The moment Shimizu Koji answered, Haibara Ai quickly regained her composure and began openly eavesdropping without the slightest shame.
"Koji-kun, you called me yesterday. Was something wrong? Sorry about that—I was in the middle of a case."
"It's nothing major. I just wanted to ask—do you know a little girl named Haibara Ai? Around seven or eight years old."
"Haibara Ai? A little girl?" Kudo Shinichi sounded confused. "Koji-kun, what are you talking about? Why would I know a child that young?"
"Isn't she a relative of yours?"
At that question, Kudo Shinichi fell silent for a moment, clearly starting to piece something together.
"Did this child come to my house?"
"Yeah."
"…I see. But that's strange. I really don't know anyone with the surname Haibara."
"Could she have gone to the wrong place? Maybe she was looking for Professor Agasa? Well… I could have Conan go take a look."
Even on the other end of the line, Conan sounded puzzled.
Professor Agasa?
Shimizu Koji and Haibara Ai exchanged a glance.
Shimizu Koji's look clearly asked: Does that ring a bell?
Haibara Ai's expression shifted several times before she finally nodded slowly.
"I… I think I remember. He… he's a chubby old grandpa."
"That settles it, Kudo-senpai. This little girl really was looking for Professor Agasa."
With everything lining up, Shimizu Koji gave a brief explanation and hung up.
Haibara Ai, meanwhile, breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Good thing she'd been there twice before.
She knew that the Kudo family lived next door to a household named Agasa. She'd even seen the plump old man once, watering his garden.
And the information Kudo Shinichi had casually revealed just now was extremely valuable to her. At the very least, it was clear that Kudo Shinichi—or rather, Edogawa Conan—was very close to Professor Agasa.
It was even likely that Professor Agasa knew that Edogawa Conan was actually Kudo Shinichi.
Shimizu Koji could contact both of them, but it was obvious he didn't know the truth.
Haibara Ai didn't want to drag an ordinary teenage boy like him into this.
"Get up and change your clothes."
So close, yet so far. Shimizu Koji never expected the situation to turn out like this.
But thinking carefully, there really had been plenty of clues.
That white lab coat alone said a lot. Even if she wasn't a relative of Professor Agasa, she was definitely the child of a scientist he knew well.
Add in her familiarity with luxury brands, her maturity, and her cleverness, and Shimizu Koji was almost completely certain of his guess.
He stood up and went downstairs, reheating the now-cool breakfast in the microwave.
"Breakfast" was just two slices of bread and a glass of milk.
Not long after, Haibara Ai came down the stairs wearing her new clothes and entered the dining area.
Honestly, at first glance, Shimizu Koji was genuinely impressed.
He'd thought a trench coat with such a grown-up design would look strange on a child, but on Haibara Ai, it actually fit perfectly.
The beige coat fell all the way to her ankles, the proportions just right. As Shimizu Koji's gaze moved downward, he suddenly remembered something.
He'd forgotten to buy shoes.
But that was hardly surprising—he'd run out of money. Who had the luxury of thinking that far ahead?
Noticing his eyes linger on her bare feet, Haibara Ai frowned slightly, her small toes instinctively curling up.
"Sorry. You'll probably have to wear slippers when we go out."
Hearing that, Haibara Ai nodded. Realizing he wasn't deliberately staring at an elementary schooler's feet, she didn't say anything.
After all, they were just going next door.
At the table, a warm glass of milk and two slices of bread were already waiting. Shimizu Koji sat across from her, making Haibara Ai feel a bit uneasy.
She'd never eaten like this before. But things change. Though still uncomfortable, she hesitated briefly before taking small bites of bread and slowly drinking the milk.
Thankfully, neither required seasoning or cooking skill—just money.
Otherwise, she might've seriously worried he'd added two spoonfuls of salt to the milk.
—
"Oh! Koji, you're here so early. Come on in."
Professor Agasa wasn't surprised at all to see Shimizu Koji. Smiling warmly, he stepped aside to let him in.
Shimizu Koji nodded and entered the house, with Haibara Ai following close behind.
Only then did Professor Agasa finally notice the unfamiliar little girl behind him.
Shimizu Koji walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa. When he turned around, he was surprised to see that Haibara Ai had already stopped at the entrance, tugging on the professor's sleeve and whispering to him.
Her expression was one of clear delight—her memories had obviously returned.
Even without hearing what they were saying, the situation spoke for itself. They'd come to the right place.
What Shimizu Koji didn't notice was Professor Agasa straightening up and taking several deep breaths, trying to calm the soul that had nearly flown out of his body.
Just a few minutes later, Professor Agasa and Haibara Ai joined him on the sofa, the three of them sitting together properly.
Shimizu Koji smiled lightly and spoke first. "Looks like she's a child you know, Professor Agasa."
"Ah—y-yes, haha. What a coincidence. Really, Koji, we have you to thank for this."
"It was nothing. Just happened by chance."
Professor Agasa laughed awkwardly and exchanged pleasantries, but the next moment he was glared at by a nervous Haibara Ai. He immediately caught on and followed the story they'd hurriedly agreed on.
"Ai is the daughter of a distant relative of mine. Her parents are busy with an extremely important research project, so they asked me to take care of her for a while."
"But before I could even go pick her up, she ran over here by herself in the heavy rain. If it weren't for you, Koji, I don't even want to imagine what would've happened if she'd gotten lost. I wouldn't know how to explain it to her parents."
Shimizu Koji shook his head, shifting his gaze from Professor Agasa to Haibara Ai, making both of them tense.
"No. If she'd gotten lost, that would've been her parents' irresponsibility. Letting such a small child run out of the house wearing adult clothes."
"And running through a storm like that—it's obvious they don't usually take good care of her. She'd met you before, Professor, so compared to them, you probably felt closer to her. That's why she decided to come find you on her own."
It wasn't polite to criticize someone's parents in front of a child.
But Shimizu Koji had never cared much for rules. He wasn't the type to stay inside the lines.
More importantly, what happened yesterday had genuinely been dangerous for a child as young as Haibara Ai.
If Haibara Ai had had nothing to do with the professor, Shimizu Koji wouldn't have said any of this.
At most, he would've simply said something like:
"Whose kid is this? Please come pick her up."