27. Subsequent Arrangements and Mouri Ran's Request

"Two dead bodies were found near the Beika Aquarium"

"After police investigation and evidence collection, it was found that one of the deceased, Chikuta Taku, had ridden a motorcycle to rob people in the surrounding area before his death."

"At the time of the incident, Chikuta Taku had successfully committed two robberies, stealing a total of 23,601 yen."

"Based on the analysis of the wounds on the body—"

"..."

"..."

Sitting at the computer desk, Hayashi Yoshiki smiled with satisfaction after extracting the information he wanted from the today's newspaper.

Let's put the experiment to a halt for now.

There are only two things he needs to do recently. One is to set up and register the detective agency, and the other is to write the two names handed over by Gin on the Death Note.

None of it is troublesome.

As for a slightly longer-term goal...

Hayashi Yoshiki took a pen and drew a circle in the Death Note, marking the word "Spider" on it.

Hayashi Yoshiki has been thinking about how to get the real name of this killer who uses illusion - after all, his ability seems to be very useful.

There are three paths currently envisioned.

One is through the organization's intelligence network, but Hayashi Yoshiki can't directly ask Gin to help him do this, as that would be too conspicuous.

However, perhaps the Death Note could be used to pit the people at the organization against the organization behind Spider, so that Hayashi Yoshiki could confuse the public.

The second is through the divination magic of the witch Akako Koizumi. The other party's divination magic seems to be able to do a lot of things.

Finally, there is the artificial intelligence "Noah's Ark" that appeared in the movie version of "The Phantom of Baker Street" - Hayashi Yoshiki believes that this is the most reliable option.

With the power of artificial intelligence, any trace left on the Internet can be easily found.

But now is not the time for artificial intelligence to appear...

Thinking of this, Hayashi Yoshiki marked the word "Gin" on the Death Note.

He vaguely remembered that the real names of Gin and Vodka were revealed as Easter eggs in the anime: Kurosawa Jin and Saburo Oukka, but it was unknown whether these were real names or fake names they temporarily chose.

He can find an opportunity someday to test Vodka's attitude when Gin is not around.

Ring-ring-ring~ Ring-ring-ring~

The cell phone on the table suddenly rang.

Hayashi Yoshiki pressed the answer button.

"Hello, Brother Yoshiki?"

"It's me."

"Excuse me, are you available today?... I have something I want to ask you for help with."

It was Mouri Ran's voice on the other end of the phone.

She sounded a little reserved and embarrassed, but before Hayashi Yoshiki could respond, she immediately started talking: "It's like this, I was eating cake with my friends in a cafe a while ago, and I was approached by two boys. After that, they invited us to attend the Valentine's Day party this afternoon..."

Valentine's Day party?

Hayashi Yoshiki had no impression at all, but he didn't show it in his tone:

"So you couldn't refuse them, and you have no interest in them at all, right?"

"Yes..."

Mouri Ran lowered her voice unconsciously, feeling really ashamed and embarrassed.

Because the boy's invitation was too strong and he kept talking to himself, she couldn't refuse at all... She originally wanted to call Kudo Shinichi to ask him if he was free, but the call was not connected, so she had to find Hayashi Yoshiki to ask.

"Okay, I'll go with you."

"Yeah! That's great, but Brother Yoshiki, my friend will also be there."

"Is that the girl who was with you at the last book signing?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll pick you up when the time comes."

After hanging up the phone, Hayashi Yoshiki thought for a while, picked up the pen and started writing on the Death Note.

————

1:30 p.m.

Hayashi Yoshiki arrived downstairs at the Mouri Detective Agency as scheduled, and saw a short-haired girl dressed in a youthful and lively manner standing there waiting.

She had a small bag on her right shoulder and a cell phone in her other hand, and she kept looking at the stairs next to her, as if she was waiting for someone. When she heard footsteps and turned her head, her eyes suddenly became sparkling when she met Hayashi Yoshiki's eyes.

"Ah, Hayashi-Sensei!!"

"Good afternoon, Suzuki-san." Hayashi Yoshiki walked over.

"Do you remember me?" Suzuki Sonoko's eyes sparkled.

"Yes, after all, you asked me to sign six books right when you came up that day."

"Well--"

"I'm just kidding. Actually, Ran mentioned you to me. She said you were her best friend."

"Of course!"

When talking about this, Suzuki Sonoko showed great pride.

However, after feeling proud, Suzuki Sonoko started to feel embarrassed again as Hayashi Yoshiki kept staring at her with a smile on his face.

"I have finished reading Hayashi-Sensei's books recently. They are really well written! But some of the plots are a bit scary."

"It's a mystery novel after all..."

"But why did Sensei come to Ran's house?"

"Ran hasn'told you yet?" Hayashi Yoshiki looked at Suzuki Sonoko's surprised face and said with a smile: "I'm here to accompany you to the Valentine's Day party."

"!!!!"

Hearing such wonderful words from such a beautiful face, Suzuki Sonoko felt that everything around her became bright and alive.

The sky is so blue.

The sun is so warm.

Even the birds chirping around me——

"Sonoko? Sonoko? So~no~ko~!?"

"Ah, Ran?"

Her body was pushed and she staggered. Suddenly she came to her senses and found that it was Mouri Ran who was looking at her with confusion.

"When did you come?"

"I just came down. I called you several times but you didn't respond."

"…Ah, hahaha."

Suzuki Sonoko smiled awkwardly.

While Mouri Ran turned her head to Hayashi Yoshiki, she secretly glanced at him. Seeing that he still had a warm and friendly expression on his face, she couldn't help but feel relieved.

"It should be about the time now, let's go."

"OK."

Hayashi Yoshiki raised his hand and hailed a taxi.

As he got into the passenger seat first, he realized that he needed to add "buying a car" to his list of things to do in the next few days.

Otherwise it would be quite inconvenient in situations like today.

It just so happens that the organization is about to pay out his salary.

As a low-level member of the organization, Hayashi Yoshiki receives a fixed amount of salary every month. In addition, after completing the tasks assigned by his superiors, he will be given a additional sum of money based on the content of the tasks.

Although this is not a lot of money for him.