The joy of winning the championship dampened the anger Ran felt toward Kudou Shinichi for leaving without permission. After the award ceremony, Ran invited everyone to celebrate with a meal.
"I'm sorry, Ran, but I have a case to handle this afternoon."
Eri Kisaki checked her wristwatch. "Next time, when I have some free time, I'll celebrate with you then."
"It's okay, Mom. I'm already happy that you came to watch my match."
Ran shook her head, signaling Eri Kisaki not to worry.
So, after nodding to Hoshimiya Yuu and Suzuki Sonoko, Eri Kisaki was the first to leave.
With Eri Kisaki gone, Ran no longer felt like having a celebration meal.
The meal was just an excuse; she wanted to see if she could ease the tension between her parents and, ideally, get them back together.
Imagination was beautiful, but reality was harsh.
As the separation continued, the relationship between Eri Kisaki and Mouri Kogoro only grew more antagonistic.
Forget reconciling; after all these years, the only thing distinguishing them from being divorced was the piece of paper.
Seeing there was no grand meal to be had, Mouri Kogoro also left.
What was the point of hanging out with a bunch of kids? It was better to find a place to drink and play some pachinko.
In the end, Hoshimiya Yuu and the two girls found a Western restaurant and ate a simple meal.
An hour later, the three of them left the restaurant.
Gazing up at the clear, azure sky, Suzuki Sonoko stretched and said, "What should we do next? The weather is so nice; we can't just go straight home. That would be a waste."
"Sonoko, Hoshimiya Nii-san, do either of you have any plans?" Ran asked.
"Hmm, I plan to buy a new phone," Hoshimiya Yuu thought for a moment and smiled. "My old one is too outdated, and I often miss calls. Plus, I just earned some extra cash today."
Suzuki Sonoko made a face at Hoshimiya Yuu and said playfully, "Then why don't you hurry up and thank the great Suzuki Sonoko."
"Yes, yes, yes. It would be even better if the great Suzuki Sonoko could give me a little more."
After joking for a while, Ran said, "Then let's go to the mall and buy phones. I need a new one too."
"Ran, didn't you just get a new phone recently?"
Suzuki Sonoko asked curiously. "I remember it was pink, with a rabbit charm. It was quite cute."
"A few days ago, Shinichi borrowed it while solving a case. Afterward, he put it in my hat without telling me, and it fell into the sewer when I bent down to pick something up."
Ran's expression was calm, as if she were talking about something unrelated to herself.
"I originally told him he should pay for a replacement, but then he ran off again today.
"Thinking about it, I'll just buy one myself. I won't ask him to replace it. After all, I had some responsibility too."
"Ran, it was clearly that Kudou guy…"
Suzuki Sonoko was about to voice her indignation on Ran's behalf when Ran said quietly again,
"Don't worry, Sonoko. In the future, I won't let Shinichi touch my phone again."
"…"
The atmosphere was briefly silent. Suzuki Sonoko belatedly realized that Ran was serious this time.
"Then are you still going to Tropical Land with Kudou tomorrow?"
Suzuki Sonoko asked tentatively; she knew Ran had been looking forward to this for a long time.
"Speaking of that…"
Ran paused, then looked at Hoshimiya Yuu.
"Hoshimiya Nii-san, are you free tomorrow? Sonoko won't be available, and even though I invited Shinichi, he'll probably abandon me again if a case pops up, so…"
"So, you want to invite me instead?"
Hoshimiya Yuu hadn't expected such a pleasant surprise and immediately accepted.
He had been worrying about how to orchestrate a plausible coincidence tomorrow without arousing suspicion from the overly paranoid high school detective.
Now, that plan wasn't necessary, and he wouldn't have to wait aimlessly at the Tropical Land entrance early in the morning.
After their plans aligned, the three went to the mall to select phones. Ran's previous phone was relatively new, and she liked using it, so she simply bought an identical model.
Hoshimiya Yuu wasn't very knowledgeable about the phones in this world, as the technology was different from his past life.
In the end, he chose a sky-blue phone, the same model as Ran's.
Placed together, a casual observer might easily mistake them for a matching couple's set.
In fact, some young couples genuinely used them as such.
"Tsk, tsk. Not only is he calling you Nii-san, but now you're picking matching phones. It was three of us, but somehow I'm the one being excluded, huh?"
Suzuki Sonoko first pretended to be disappointed, then adopted a look of relief.
"Oh well. That deduction maniac really isn't half as good as Mr. Hoshimiya. Since you've finally come to your senses, Ran, I'll magnanimously give up my position for you~"
"Sonoko, stop it."
Ran secretly glanced at Hoshimiya Yuu, quickly retracting her gaze as their eyes were about to meet.
A faint blush spread across her fair, oval-shaped face. She did have a good impression of Hoshimiya Yuu, but it hadn't reached that level yet.
Initially, it was nothing, but Sonoko's teasing made her genuinely feel embarrassed.
A maiden's heart is always a poem.
If she truly liked him, she probably wouldn't have been able to invite Hoshimiya Yuu to Tropical Land so casually.
It was similar to how she felt a little something for Kudou Shinichi but had never said anything.
After elementary school, they hadn't even held hands.
Now that Kudou Shinichi was famous as a high school detective and received many love letters daily, Ran even urged him to find a girlfriend.
Of course, she felt she didn't like Kudou Shinichi as much anymore.
Thinking about it carefully, Kudou Shinichi was constantly obsessed with deduction, completely ignoring her feelings, and even lecherously fantasized when he saw pretty girls.
It seemed that, apart from growing up together, there wasn't much that made him particularly likable.
Especially after meeting Hoshimiya Yuu, the contrast made her feel more and more like her affection for Kudou Shinichi wasn't as strong as she thought.
Hoshimiya Yuu didn't know Ran's thoughts, but if he did, he would simply say that this was a case of the childhood friend losing to the newcomer.
After watching the drama unfold for a while, and seeing Ran blushing furiously from Sonoko's teasing, Hoshimiya Yuu finally spoke slowly. "Sonoko, outside of school, you can call me Hoshimiya Nii-san too."
"Huh?"
Startled by Hoshimiya Yuu suddenly using her given name, Suzuki Sonoko was momentarily stunned, and then two red spots appeared on her cute face.
This reaction from the usually outgoing Suzuki Sonoko surprised not only Hoshimiya Yuu but also Ran.
Looking at Suzuki Sonoko's extremely shy response, Hoshimiya Yuu suddenly recalled the System prompt from two days ago in class.
If he remembered correctly, the System had said he completed a Love interaction with Suzuki Sonoko.
Hoshimiya Yuu had initially assumed it was just Suzuki Sonoko's infatuation acting up and that it would fade soon.
Now, it seemed the Suzuki heiress was serious.
Love at first sight…
Possessing the Blue-quality Handsome talent, this wasn't the first time Hoshimiya Yuu had seen this kind of reaction.
"Ahem. Of course, if you don't want to, Suzuki-san, that's fine."
Hoshimiya Yuu chose to play dumb.
His development with Ran was going well. Whether for the convenience of acquiring System rewards or based on his I want them all mentality, he had to act like an innocent, dense, and pure young man right now.
He didn't like pretending to be slow-witted, but this was the best solution at the moment.
It wasn't enough to just want them all; Hoshimiya Yuu wanted a future where he could have them all and make them all happy.
Having lived two lives and experienced all aspects of the world, Hoshimiya Yuu's moral bottom line was very flexible.
Personal strength and capability were paramount. Everything must first prioritize self-strengthening.
With sufficient power, he could achieve the ambition in his heart: having everything while ensuring everyone's happiness.