Vacation. They had to take a vacation. Ada actually caught a cold, and Liu A'dou immediately knew it was because she had been working too much, staying up late all the time. Even a Saint Seiya could fall sick—unbelievable.
A vacation was necessary. But as long as Ada stayed on Earth, she couldn't stop worrying about S.H.I.E.L.D. That wouldn't work. So they had to vacation on a parallel Earth. Liu A'dou made the decision: the three of them would go as a family.
He left the Antarctic base in Neo's hands and had Captain America watch over S.H.I.E.L.D. for a couple of days. Then, holding his wife's hand and carrying his daughter, he crossed over.
This time, since it was for vacation, they had to have fun. Before they crossed, A'dou smiled at Ada and said, "Ada-jie, let me court you again." It was his way of keeping the spark alive.
Ada was forced into this vacation. But since her schedule was finally free, she decided to go along with her little husband's whims.
They picked Earth-13, which Ada had prepared for last time, and set off.
The two agreed that Ada would keep their daughter for the first week while Liu A'dou would set the war drums beating and pursue her all over again. Playing a dating game was a mix of affection and fun.
Liu A'dou thought this plan was perfect. It would deepen their feelings and help them understand each other more—two birds with one stone.
"See you in a week."
"You sound very confident you can win me over again," Ada laughed.
Liu A'dou was full of confidence. "That's right. I'm sure of it."
"Then I'll wait for you." She turned, hugging their daughter, and walked away.
The empty street left Liu A'dou alone. Looking around at the buildings, he figured this world was also around the year 2000, the era he was most familiar with. He bought a couple of newspapers to check what interesting things Earth-13 had going on.
Rustle, rustle—the newspaper shook in his hands as he read slowly, savoring the relaxed pace of vacation.
"Pfft—" He spat tea all over the paper. A headline jumped out at him: Detective Mouri Kogorou Solves the Castle Mystery. Right next to it was Mouri Kogorou's smug grin. Liu A'dou's whole body shivered. Had he ended up back in the second world again?
No, he had to check. Was this that world, or just a detective-themed parallel world? He needed a full investigation.
He spent two days in Japan, which wasn't very technolOkically advanced yet, gathering information. Sure enough, this was the world of Detective Conan. But there was no Kaitou Kid here. And no childhood sweetheart Aoko. Honestly, Liu A'dou let out a sigh of relief. Otherwise, he really wouldn't know how to face it.
So this was a detective world without Kaitou. Interesting. A mischievous grin spread across Liu A'dou's face as he thought about the bratty Detective Boys, the bumbling Tokyo police, and of course, the ever-pretentious Black Organization.
"Detective Conan, your Kaitou Kid has returned!!" Liu A'dou stood tall and declared. Besides chasing Ada again, he was definitely going to mess with Conan. Just the thought made him excited.
Ada, meanwhile, received a letter. To her surprise, it was an employment notice. She had been invited to teach chemistry at Teitan High School. "What's A'dou up to now?" she muttered. But since it was all part of the game, she was willing to play along. A teaching job was far too easy anyway. The only problem was she thought it would be temporary. If she started work here, did that mean she'd be staying on Earth-13 for a while? She had no idea what Liu A'dou was planning.
In Class 2-B of Teitan High, a new transfer student arrived that day.
"Liu A'dou, please take care of me."
He was back in the school uniform he had worked so hard to leave behind. That was also why he dragged Ada into Teitan High—so they could see each other every day.
But Ada wouldn't start until next Monday. Liu A'dou, on the other hand, began classes this Thursday.
"So handsome!" Just hearing the voice, Liu A'dou knew it was Sonoko, the hopeless fangirl. This rich young lady hung around with ordinary folks all day, living free and easy.
"Sonoko…" Ran wasn't used to her friend drooling over every handsome guy that appeared.
"Ran, do you think he's mixed-blood?"
"I don't think so. Liu A'dou… I remember he was a character from Romance of the Three Kingdoms," Ran said uncertainly. She couldn't quite recall, only that her father had mentioned it once or twice.
"Class, our new student Liu A'dou comes from China, and his name is the same as Liu Bei's son in Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
Hearing the teacher say that, Liu A'dou thought to himself, 'Teacher, stop showing off already.' He knew this homeroom teacher loved the Three Kingdoms. His house was packed with manga, novels, and TV collections on the subject.
Once Liu Bei's name was mentioned, everyone understood. As for Liu Bei's son, they probably didn't know what deeds he had done. Still, sharing the same name sounded impressive enough.
Liu A'dou felt uneasy all over. Suddenly, he regretted it. If he had known earlier, he should have posed as a teacher instead of a student. He had dug a hole for himself.
"Liu A'dou, sit over there." He looked at the empty desk—wasn't that Kudo Shinichi's seat?
Mouri Ran wanted to say something, but in the end, she realized the teacher's arrangement wasn't wrong. Shinichi had already taken indefinite leave. Ran was just too considerate of others, that's why she had waited for him so long.
But Liu A'dou decided it was better not to sit there. That was the Grim Reaper's seat, and it gave him chills. "Teacher, I'd rather sit at the back row."
"Why is that?" The teacher asked in surprise. "Isn't the second-to-last seat by the window a good spot?"
"It's not that… it's because it's too good. That's why it feels strange being left empty. It should belong to someone," Liu A'dou said.
"True. That was Kudo's seat. But he has already filed leave of absence, and no one knows when he'll return. You can sit there for now, no problem."
"No, leave it for Kudo. I'm sure someone in this class has been waiting, and will keep waiting, for him to come back," Liu A'dou said. "I'll sit at the last row."
The teacher looked at Liu A'dou, saw how serious he was, and agreed.
Mouri Ran was deeply moved, while Sonoko, though she found it odd, had already been dazzled by A'dou's charm. His behavior won him everyone's favor. After all, Kudo Shinichi was very popular—the high school detective, the savior of the police department. Those titles given by adults also gave pride to his classmates.
"Alright, class begins now. Open your books."
Liu A'dou didn't need to listen. He had heard it all before. Over and over again, the lessons of second-year high school—he had gone through them at least 10 times. Even a fool would have learned it by now. He knew the content so well he could recite it backward. Even with his eyes closed, he could score 100.
The familiar high school life had begun again, only with different faces around him. He hadn't studied at Teitan High before, but he was still very familiar with it.
Taking advantage of this safe world, Liu A'dou thought that he could practice the knowledge in his head more. While enjoying himself, he could also strengthen his skills, sharpen his command of technology, and skillfully apply related formulas—organizing all the knowledge stored in his brain.