"It's not like I told her to drink it, right? I didn't even know anyone was coming." Kogoro, sporting a stack of bumps on his head, stared with dead-fish eyes in speechless frustration.
"You really never learn, Dad. Even if we didn't have a guest, Conan lives here too. He could be influenced by you and sneak a drink." Ran shook her fist threateningly at him.
Conan, watching from the doorway, gave an awkward laugh. He wasn't really a seven-year-old. Why would he do something as stupid as sneaking a drink?
"Do you still have any strength, Yimi?" Ran gently took Yimi's little hand and lifted it, but the moment she let go, it flopped limply back down.
Curled up in Ran's arms like a real kitten, Yimi babbled incomprehensibly. Yet when Ran leaned close to listen, she still couldn't make out a thing.
Ran glared at Kogoro. "What are you standing there for? Go pour her some water."
"Oh, right. I should have something in my car to help her sober up. I've got some in my drawer too, though I hardly ever use it." Kogoro bent down and obeyed.
Ran pressed her forehead against Yimi's. "You probably shouldn't go outside in the wind like this. I'll call Mom and tell her exactly what happened. Anyway, stay here tonight. Conan, you're sleeping with Dad tonight."
Conan's face went pale.
Looks like he wasn't getting any sleep tonight.
He looked up at Yimi in Ran's arms. That "Queen" had given him a scalp-tingling sense of pressure this morning. So it had been Aunt Eri.
He'd been beaten by Ran so many times while playing together as kids that even though his eyes hadn't recognized her, his DNA had apparently felt fear first.
As he stared at Yimi, who had given him such a headache earlier, Conan suddenly noticed that she'd rubbed her own hat off, revealing one cat ear.
?
"Ran-onee-san, she has cat ears!" Conan pointed at Yimi in astonishment, already slipping naturally into a child's tone.
"This child's circumstances are a little special. Conan, you can't bully her because of it, understood?" Ran pulled Yimi's hat back into place, only for Yimi to catch her hand and gently bite it.
Kogoro's eyes widened too. "W-what exactly is going on with her? Do human medicines even work on her?"
"What do you mean, 'human medicines'? It's not like she's a youkai."
Ran glared at him again. "Mom already took her to the hospital for an examination. She's perfectly healthy. She was abandoned because a genetic mutation made her like this. After her biological mother and grandmother—the people closest to her—passed away, she had nowhere to go. Luckily, Mom found her and took her in."
"I see..." Kogoro awkwardly rubbed his stubble.
No.
Conan's gaze sharpened as he stood by the door.
Don't throw everything you learned in biology out the window that easily! No matter how much a normal human mutates, they can't grow animal ears on top of their head—especially not ears that are that symmetrical and aesthetically perfect.
But from a biological standpoint, a high-school student suddenly becoming ten years younger was impossible too.
Conan lowered his head and looked at his own child-sized body, his heart sinking.
That little girl's origins... At the very least, there was clearly more to those ears on her head than that. What in the world was going on?
* * *
Yimi had a very unpleasant, strange dream. She dreamed that she was lying there spinning in circles while making some kind of oiiaioo sound.
Then a hand with a hole in it seemed to smack her, and Yimi jolted awake and sat straight up.
Alcohol was terrifying. It tasted awful, and afterward she felt awful too. Was this really the price of becoming a detective?
"You're awake." Ran, wearing an apron, touched Yimi's forehead. "Why did you suddenly decide to drink? Feels awful, doesn't it?"
She'd slept for an entire day.
"Because I can enter, Detective Mode." Yimi stood up on the bed. She didn't feel any different from before, other than the lingering discomfort.
Ran smelled like chocolate.
"It's all because of the nonsense Dad said. He's famous enough that people talk about him now, yet he still says things like that in front of a child. Don't drink alcohol again, okay?" Ran assumed Yimi had simply been idolizing "Sleeping Kogoro."
"So all of that was a lie!" Yimi was devastated.
"That was just that guy's drunken nonsense. This is what happens when you drink. Now that you've learned your lesson, don't touch alcohol again, understood? Girls especially need to be careful about that."
"Mm-hm."
"..."
She really was just a genuine little kid.
Conan, who had been eavesdropping outside the door, let out a sigh of relief.
Sneaking alcohol because she thought it would make her stronger was something only an immature child would do. At the very least, he could be sure she wasn't someone who had been turned into a child like him.
"Rest a little longer." Leaving those words behind, Ran turned and walked out.
Resting was obviously impossible. Yimi simply transferred away the misfortune of her hangover, walked out of Ran's bedroom, and turned to look at the calendar.
As far as she remembered, it had still been January before she drank. Now it was suddenly February 14.
Kitty had slept for several days!
Alcohol was too terrifying. She could never drink again.
"Your ears are really pretty. Were you born with them?" Conan clasped his hands behind his head, putting on an innocent look.
"Yep."
After giving the simple reply, Yimi shuffled toward the kitchen in a pair of Ran's shoes that were far too large for her.
Born with them? Could she have been an experimental subject raised by the Black Organization and deliberately planted there for Aunt Eri to find?
No. Planting an immature little girl beside a lawyer wouldn't accomplish much. Even if they wanted to place a listening device or something, there were countless more sophisticated ways to do it.
If it were up to Conan, he definitely wouldn't want society to learn about such inhumane genetic modification technology. Compared with that, it seemed more likely that the experimental subject's parents had helped her escape.
Conan couldn't help following Yimi. Following her into the kitchen, he saw Ran busy with a bowl of chocolate. Yimi had clearly come over because she'd smelled it. She clung to the edge of the counter and stared up at Ran without blinking.
Chocolate?
Oh, right. February 14 was Valentine's Day.
Conan put his thoughts aside for the moment and made a comical face. "Ran-onee-san, who are you making chocolate for? Don't tell me it's that Shinichi-niichan you keep talking about."
Ran blushed and turned her head away. "It's not for him. How could someone who disappears without a word deserve chocolate? That deduction maniac can go find somewhere to..."
She stopped herself before finishing the sentence.
She didn't really mean it. Please, let nothing have happened to him...
Ran crouched down and fixed the buttons Yimi had fastened wrong. "Aren't you going to rest a little longer? School's already out now."
"What's a deduction maniac?" Yimi asked curiously about the new phrase.
"Just a self-important detective idiot. Don't learn that word 'idiot' and start saying it, okay?"
Ran lifted the whisk out of the melted chocolate and instinctively moved to feed Yimi some, then pulled it back when her gaze landed on Yimi's ears and tail.
She really had made this chocolate for Shinichi, secretly hoping that maybe, since it was Valentine's Day, that guy would come back.
Earlier, her best friend Sonoko had invited her to a Valentine's party. She had originally planned to go because she was annoyed with Shinichi, but Yimi wasn't feeling well, so she'd turned it down.
"A detective! Who's that Shinichi?" Yimi asked excitedly.
Why did she suddenly get so excited about that name?!
After seeing her reaction, Conan's hair stood on end. Even though his logically consistent theory had already mostly cleared Yimi in his mind, there was still that tiny remaining possibility.
"It's this annoying guy." Ran rummaged through her pocket and casually pulled out a photo she'd taken with Kudo Shinichi.
Then Conan saw the white-haired little girl's expression suddenly turn sharp.
Yimi said, "I've seen this person."
"!"
"Really? When? Where did you see him?" Ran crouched down excitedly.
Conan took one step back.
She'd only seen him? There weren't many people with dyed white hair anywhere in Japan, much less children. If he had encountered her before, even if she'd merely been in a crowd, he should have at least some impression of her!
Under Conan's tense, serious stare, Yimi spoke. "That night, upstairs. He was wearing all white, with a very tall hat, and a monocle."
Conan: "?"
"Huh?" Ran blinked, her eyes turning into tiny dots.
"He could also, make things appear out of nowhere." Yimi continued her description with complete confidence.
Ran held her chin in thought. That description sounded a little like... Kaitou Kid, whom Sonoko was always talking about?
Shinichi had disappeared to become Kaitou Kid!
Conan stared at Yimi in shock.
Why are you framing me?!
"Ran-onee-san, she still hasn't sobered up..."
The landline rang, successfully interrupting Ran's thoughts—or rather, interrupting Conan's chance to help "Shinichi-niichan" explain himself.
Ran walked over and answered the phone. "Hello? Mouri Detective Agency... Sonoko? Someone died?"