"Aww! So close!!" Sonoko yelled, disappointed, as she watched Ran nearly land a spinning kick on Hina Wada.
"Yeah! Ran should have taken one more step forward!" Shinichi also slapped his thigh, his face full of regret.
"That's right!" Eri Kisaki also clenched her fist, expressing her disappointment.
"That's because you don't understand!" Seeing that they didn't get it, Kogoro Mouri shook his head and explained, "Ran's spinning back kick wasn't for attacking, it was for defending... Didn't you see that Hina Wada was about to attack?"
"Was she?" Shinichi frowned, not having noticed anything.
"Huh? Is that so? I didn't see that at all," Sonoko said, slightly surprised.
Kogoro Mouri said, "After being teased with a right straight continuously, who could resist counterattacking?" He then looked at Shiraishi E and praised, "The stuff you taught her is good, kid! Your combat experience is unusually rich. If I were ten years younger, I'd definitely have a good match with you!"
"How can a big brother bully his little brother? Let's not," Shiraishi E teased Kogoro Mouri. This made him very frustrated. Sonoko, seeing Kogoro Mouri's disgruntled look, couldn't help but chuckle to herself.
At that moment, she looked at the ring. "Ran's starting again!!"
In the ring, Ran was, just like before, repeatedly using her right straight to taunt Hina Wada. Shiraishi E smiled to himself, thinking that Ran was learning all the bad habits, starting to mess with her opponent's mind.
Sure enough, after being repeatedly taunted, Hina Wada's composure broke, and she launched a counterattack. However, Ran had already figured out her attacks. Although Hina Wada attacked with all her might, Ran blocked everything. She exhausted a lot of stamina but gained nothing.
Seeing her panting, Ran decisively began to counterattack. Exhaustion caused Hina Wada's movements to become sloppy, and her defense faltered, allowing Ran to land a punch to her chest. Ran scored again.
"Awesome! Ran!!" Sonoko couldn't help but stand up and cheer loudly. "Keep it up, go all out! Defeat your opponent!!!"
"That's right, that's right!!" Kogoro Mouri, not at all shy, also stood up and yelled, "Ran, don't embarrass your old man!" The two of them were then warned by the referee.
However, this gave the already dominant Ran an extra boost of morale!
Just then, Shinichi's phone rang. He got up and walked a little further away to answer the call. Hearing Inspector Megure on the other end about a murder case, he immediately agreed to go.
Shinichi returned to the group. "Sorry, everyone. Inspector Megure asked me to go and take a look at a crime scene."
Worried that Shinichi's departure would affect Ran's performance, Shiraishi E said, "Go and come back quickly. Maybe by the time you return, Ran will have just finished receiving her award."
Shinichi thought that made sense. He had originally wanted to say goodbye to Ran, but this changed his mind. "Sonoko, if I'm not back after Ran receives her award, tell her I went to a crime scene. If I'm back, then don't say anything."
"You'd better come back quickly! If Ran sees you're not here after she finishes her match, she'll be very unhappy," Sonoko said. Although she didn't want Shinichi to leave at this time, she couldn't stop him.
"Okay!" Shinichi said and then quickly left the venue.
The rest of the match wasn't very interesting. Ran's talent was extraordinary, and she learned quickly. She had learned many tricks from Shiraishi E, and with her rich combat experience, she completely dominated Hina Wada. However, she also handled the social niceties perfectly. She didn't completely shut out Hina Wada, deliberately making a few mistakes at the end to give her opponent some points, making the score look less one-sided.
Watching Ran win the final victory and go up to receive her award, Sonoko, while happy, quickly called Shinichi. "Shinichi! Are you done over there? Ran is already receiving her award!!"
On the other end of the line, Shinichi sounded pained. "I'm stuck in traffic... I just got to the crime scene!"
"Then you're done for," Sonoko said with schadenfreude. "You'd better think about how you're going to apologize to Ran!" After saying that, she lost interest in listening and hung up the phone.
"Here's to Ran's victory!! Cheers!" In a high-end restaurant, Sonoko raised her fruit juice and cheered. Everyone congratulated Ran.
"Thank you, everyone!" This made Ran very happy. She looked at Shiraishi E. "Especially you, Shiraishi-kun. You spent all your time after school training with me and shared so much experience with me. Thank you so much."
"The main thing is that you learned well, Ran. It has little to do with me," Shiraishi E said. He wasn't being humble; it was the truth. Otherwise, if it had been anyone else, it would have been impossible to improve so much in just one month.
"E, you're so modest," Sonoko patted Shiraishi E's shoulder. "Just accept her thanks!"
"Alright, I accept!" Shiraishi E smiled. "Now that you've won the championship, you can finally relax."
"Yes, I can finally relax," Ran also felt a sense of relief. The high-pressure training this month had also been a burden on her.
"Alright, everyone, let's start eating! Don't be shy," she gestured for the others to start. Ran was very happy that she hadn't let everyone down and that Shiraishi-kun's efforts hadn't been in vain. However, seeing that Shinichi still hadn't arrived, she couldn't help but feel that something was missing.
After thinking for a moment, she used the excuse of "going to the restroom" to leave her seat and call Shinichi, urging him to hurry over.
As soon as Ran left, Kogoro Mouri huffed, clearly annoyed. "That brat is so infuriating! He's still not here! Doesn't he know that Ran really wants him to be here?"
"Uncle!" Sonoko quickly tried to say a few good words for Shinichi. "It's not like Shinichi has a choice, right? He's busy solving a case... As soon as he's done, he'll rush over."
"Is he busier than me?" Eri Kisaki also sounded slightly displeased.
"This..." Sonoko was at a loss for words. She knew that Eri Kisaki was a top lawyer, always busy, working year-round. If even she could make time to come, how could Shinichi possibly be busier than her?
Thinking this, she glanced at Shiraishi E, hoping he would also help her say a few words.
"Eat, Sonoko. The food will get cold if you don't," Shiraishi E said, putting some food on her plate, telling her to mind her own business.
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