(The street where the Mouri Detective Agency is located.)
The sky, which had been overcast with dark clouds, finally released the rain it had been holding back.
Seeing that they were almost home, yet the sky had started pouring, Kurosawa Hoshino and Ran both silently cursed their luck.
"Here~"
Kurosawa Hoshino took off his school uniform jacket and held it over Ran's head. Together, they quickly ran forward.
Fortunately, the distance wasn't far.
In half a minute, the two reached the entrance of the stairwell downstairs.
Even so, with the heavy rain, half of Kurosawa Hoshino's body was soaked. Rainwater dripped from his hair and face.
"Sorry, sorry~"
Seeing him like this, Ran understood it was all because he was looking after her that he got drenched. Without the jacket over her head, she would have been soaked too.
She quickly took off her own school uniform jacket, which wasn't very wet, and began wiping the rain from Kurosawa Hoshino's head and face.
"Sigh—"
Kurosawa Hoshino lowered his head slightly, not refusing, letting Ran wipe him. But every time the jacket passed near his nose, his nose twitched hard.
"Itchy?" Ran asked.
"No. I just think your clothes smell really nice. I want to smell them more."
Instantly, Ran's cheeks flushed. She reached out and tapped his forehead with her finger. "Hoshino, be serious. No saying weird things."
"I'm telling the truth." Kurosawa Hoshino smiled. "They really do smell nice."
"If you keep saying that, I won't talk to you anymore."
"Okay, okay."
Kurosawa Hoshino paused, then added, "Actually, I think we should go upstairs. You can get a towel and wipe me better."
"That's true."
Ran came to her senses, pulled her hand back, shook out her uniform jacket, and turned to quickly head upstairs.
Kurosawa Hoshino shrugged and followed.
The two didn't stop on the second floor and went straight to the third.
In the living room, Kurosawa Hoshino sat on the tatami, having taken off his shirt, bare-chested.
A short while later, Ran came out of her bedroom with two towels and handed one to him. "Hoshino, here. It's new. I haven't used it."
"Are we going to school tomorrow?" Kurosawa Hoshino took the towel and started wiping his face and hair.
"No."
"No school, huh? Then I want to sleep in tomorrow. You don't need to wake me for breakfast."
"I'll save some for you. When you wake up, you can heat it up yourself."
"Okay. Oh, right, also—"
Before Kurosawa Hoshino could finish, he felt a tickle on his back. His hand, which was wiping his hair, paused. He turned his head and saw Ran was wiping his back for him.
Ran smiled. "I wasn't really wet to begin with. I saw your back was so wet, so I'm helping you wipe it."
"Mm, thanks."
"By the way, what were you about to say?"
"Nothing."
"Okay. Hoshino, do you want to wear Dad's clothes?"
"Don't you have an umbrella here? Just go to my place and grab some for me." Kurosawa Hoshino reminded her.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot. I'll go get them for you now."
Ran put the towel down, stood up, and walked out. She grabbed an umbrella by the entryway and quickly went downstairs.
"Heh."
Kurosawa Hoshino smiled, took the towel off his head, and touched his hair. It felt about right.
About ten minutes later, Ran returned.
"Hoshino, Ai and the others are here. They're downstairs. And Dad isn't downstairs either—he's gone off somewhere again."
As she spoke, she handed him a short-sleeved shirt and a jacket.
"Is that so? Why did they come?" Kurosawa Hoshino asked as he took the clothes and started putting them on.
"They said they were going out to play, but it started raining on the way. They saw it was close to our place, so they came to take shelter."
After Ran finished, she handed him pants and underwear as well.
Kurosawa Hoshino took them and glanced at her, then jerked his chin toward the bedroom.
Ran's cheeks reddened. She didn't get up. Instead, she pointed to the bathroom. "Go change in there. I'll wash them for you tonight and bring them over."
"Oh no, Ran."
"What's wrong?"
"I feel like you're too good to me. I'm starting to not be able to leave you."
"Don't say nonsense. Hurry up and go change." Ran's expression turned stern, and her tone grew heavier, just like when she usually scolded the unreliable Kogoro Mouri.
Kurosawa Hoshino's mouth twitched. Holding the pants, he walked toward the bathroom. Before closing the door, he teased, "Ran, I think you'll be a strict mother in the future."
Then, without waiting for her reaction, he shut the door.
Ran: "..."
Ran looked thoughtful and muttered, "Is there a problem? I remember Mom used to be like that. Hmph, definitely no problem."
She stopped overthinking and went back to her room to change clothes.
Before long, the two, now changed, went down to the second floor. As soon as they entered, they heard the chattering of a group of children.
Kurosawa Hoshino glanced around: the three kids from Teitan Elementary, plus Conan and Ai.
Ran asked, "What were you all just discussing?"
"Ran-neechan, there's a message on the phone. We were just talking about whether to play it and listen." Ayumi pointed at the landline on the office desk.
"There's a message?"
Ran quickly walked to the desk and pressed a button on the phone.
Soon, a voice echoed through the room.
"Today there's a message—Hello, I work at Nichiuri TV. My name is Aki Asano. I have something urgent I'd like to discuss with Mr. Mouri. Since you're not home, I'll call again later."
"Nichiuri TV, Aki Asano?" Kurosawa Hoshino thought it over. He knew the former, of course, but he'd never heard the woman's name.
"I know her!" Ran, the "fake celebrity fan," once again showed off her specialty. As long as someone was famous, she knew at least a little. "She does the weather news on Nichiuri TV and also appears on the News City program."
"Yeah, yeah." Ayumi chimed in. "She's a super pretty big sister. I'm a fan of her TV appearances too."
"Really, Ayumi?" Ran looked at her with a smile.
"Yes!" Ayumi answered firmly.
Before long, the two girls—one big, one small—were excitedly discussing Aki Asano. They talked up a storm, and anything about Aki Asano, both of them could keep up with.
Seeing Ran chatting so enthusiastically, Kurosawa Hoshino reminded her, "Ran, aren't you going to call Uncle Mouri?"
"Oh, right."
Ran snapped back, told Ayumi they'd chat more later, took out her phone, and dialed her father's number.
After Ran explained everything, Kogoro Mouri said helplessly, "I'm busy. No time. Ran, how about you go to Nichiuri TV and ask Miss Asano what it's about for me? Okay, hanging up."
"Wait, Dad—"
Looking at the ended call, Ran stopped talking. She had no choice but to look pitifully at Kurosawa Hoshino.
Kurosawa Hoshino: "..."
After a while, he said quietly, "I don't really want to go to Nichiuri TV. If I show up there, the people there definitely won't miss the chance to interview me."
"You can wear a hat and mask. Then it'll be fine."
"Ran-neechan, I want to go too! I want to meet Miss Asano." Ayumi stepped forward and hugged Ran's leg.
"Okay, no problem." Ran patted her little head.