23. Suddenly, I Came Up With an Interesting Idea

"Let me see..."

"Shiki, you have a straight figure, so something like this will look great on you."

"The suit you wore at the book signing was very handsome."

"Take one of these white and black shirts, and pair them with ties."

In a men's clothing store, Kisaki Eri was giving advice to Hayashi Yoshiki - she stood in front of him, pinching her chin and observing him carefully.

As soon as he tried to put on a shirt, a jacket was handed to him. Sometimes he would try different colors of the same style.

Hayashi Yoshiki was cooperative.

Because Kisaki Eri's aesthetic taste is indeed very good, but she personally seems to prefer formal wear, which can be seen from her usual attire.

"Just pick these few first."

After selecting all the ones and seeing that they all looked very good, Kisaki Eri nodded, then looked at Hayashi Yoshiki and asked, "Shiki, are there anything else that you would like to see?"

"Well, I'll just grab two more T-shirts. I want to wear something casual sometimes."

"Good."

Kisaki Eri called the shop assistant over.

After all the clothes were packed, payment was made using Kisaki Eri's card.

However, both Hayashi Yoshiki and Kisaki Eri are not short of money, so it doesn't matter who pays - Kisaki Eri is actually quite happy about it.

Hayashi Yoshiki is only a few years older than Mouri Ran.

This made Kisaki Eri wonder if she had given birth to a son, she would probably have chosen clothes for him like this.

"Ran said she'll be here around 16:30, so let's go to the cafe and wait for her."

"OK."

Hayashi Yoshiki had no objection.

The coffee shop they had agreed to meet at is only about ten minutes away.

After sitting down and ordering something, Kisaki Eri chatted with Hayashi Yoshiki, and soon they saw Mouri Ran at the entrance of the cafe.

The moment she saw her daughter, a bright smile immediately lit up the beautiful woman's face. She waved to Ran and sat down a little on the sofa to make room for her.

"Mom, Brother Yoshiki."

Ran's tone was somewhat light.

She had just finished school and was still wearing the Teitan High School uniform, which was a white shirt and tie with a blue suit jacket and a blue pleated skirt on the outside.

The 16-year-old high school girl is not yet old enough to wear makeup, but Mouri Ran's pure face has indeed perfectly inherited her mother's beauty, especially her bright and clear eyes, which are as pure as gems.

"Sit down now. Ah, who is this child?"

Kisaki Eri was talking with a smile when she suddenly noticed that there was a short elementary school student following Mouri Ran.

"This is Conan who is temporarily live at home. He is a relative of Shinichi." Mouri Ran said helplessly, "After hearing that I wanted to come out, he said he would follow me no matter what."

"So..."

Kisaki Eri just took a look and felt that he looked familiar, but didn't pay much attention to it.

"Hello, Brother Yoshiki."

Conan raised his head and smiled at Hayashi Yoshiki.

The latter heard the somewhat disgusting voice and tightened his grip on the coffee cup slightly, but still responded with a gentle smile.

Mouri Ran sat down next to Kisaki Eri, and Conan sat next to Hayashi Yoshiki, with smile on his face, but he was jealous in his heart.

(So ​​the date Ran mentioned is him after all?)

Conan felt extremely sad.

He saw Mouri Ran hurriedly getting ready to go out as soon as she got home. When he asked her, she happily said that she was "going on a date", which was like a bolt from the blue for him.

I just became a child and my childhood sweetheart is already attracted by the handsome guy?

How can I bear this!?

"So, Sister Ran is here for a date with Brother Yoshiki?"

"Huh?"

Conan's words instantly made Mouri Ran's eyes widen. Especially when she noticed that Hayashi Yoshiki seemed to be stunned for a moment, she immediately blushed: "Don't talk nonsense, Conan, the 'date' I'm talking about is actually my mother."

"Ah, that's how it is!"

Looking at the two people opposite him who were obviously mother and daughter, Conan gradually felt relieved.

But now he heard Kisaki Eri say:

"It is indeed me who made the appointment today, Ran. But if you are interested, you two can hang out together more often." She said with a smile in her mature tone, "After all, you are cousins."

"But Brother Yoshiki must be very popular at first glance." Conan spoke up immediately, his voice slightly raised: "It must be difficult to make an appointment with him, right? Ayumi from our class kept thinking about Brother Yoshiki after she went back that day."

"Don't draw conclusions based on one impression."

Hayashi Yoshiki found it very interesting to see that Conan seemed calm on the surface, but was probably jumping up and down with anxiety inside.

"Well, Shiki's lifestyle is still very healthy." Kisaki Eri nodded.

"…"

Conan was speechless.

Hayashi Yoshiki's eyes were fixed on him.

"I suddenly realized that you look a lot like Kudo Shinichi."

"——!"

Hearing this out of the blue, Conan's body stiffened for a moment.

He began to laugh awkwardly: "Because, because I am a relative of Brother Shinichi!"

"After hearing what Shiki said, I indeed have some impression. This child... looks exactly like the boy from the Kudo family when he was a child." Kisaki Eri was a little surprised.

"Really? I also thought it was a little weird when I first saw it."

"Is it exactly the same?" Hayashi Yoshiki asked.

"It should be."

When Conan saw Mouri Ran nodding hesitantly, he almost broke out in a cold sweat.

But Hayashi Yoshiki took out a notebook and pen and started to scribble on it... In order to change the subject, Conan asked with an awkward smile:

"Brother Yoshiki, what are you writing?"

"I suddenly thought of an interesting idea: a famous detective met with an accident, and his body turned back into his 8-year-old appearance in an experimental accident. In order to restore his body shape and overthrow the organization behind the scenes, he began to solve cases and investigate the real culprit as an elementary school student—"

"It's really interesting!"

Mouri Ran's eyes were burning.

"It sounds interesting, but a detective for elementary school students may be more suitable for the children market," analyzed Kisaki Eri.

"Yes, so it's not really appropriate to write it as a novel. You can consider making it into a comic." Hayashi Yoshiki nodded, then looked at Conan with a gentle smile, "What do you think, Conan? Do you think it's okay?"

"…Ahahahaha, I don't know."

Please don't!

Can mystery novelists not have such wild imaginations!?

Conan broke out in a cold sweat and looked at Hayashi Yoshiki with horror in his eyes. He felt his heart beating really fast.

What scared him even more was that Hayashi Yoshiki was still writing, and suddenly stopped in the middle of writing, looked at him carefully, and then continued writing!

Please, stop it!