Chapter 299: Red Herring or Jiangxia — Which One’s the Real Trick?

Before Ran Mouri could finish her sentence, Mami Endo cut in with a solemn face. "You don't understand. During the Emperor's Cup match a while back, we were sitting right behind you. Jiangxia's eyes were practically glowing when he looked at you."

She gave a dramatic pause on the word you, trying to make it clear: Jiangxia wasn't just a guy juggling two relationships—he was juggling three. An acrobatic feat of emotional logistics. And these two high school girls? Too innocent. They'd never be able to accept such betrayal. So, they'd gracefully back off. Right?

Thinking this, Mami let out a long, practiced sigh. She cast her eyes downward just enough to show off her elegant, thick lashes curled like they came straight from a shoujo manga. "In short, you two should be careful."

She didn't wait for a response. With the elegance of a queen reciting her final poem, she slid a hand out from under the covers and waved lazily. "Thanks for visiting. I didn't sleep at all last night. You must be tired too. Go get some rest—I'm going to sleep."

Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki had no choice but to take their leave.

Mami pretended to close her eyes but peeked through a slit as they walked off, hoping to catch their reactions. But she couldn't quite read them.

Once the door clicked shut, she reopened her eyes. There was a tired but oddly triumphant gleam in them.

…

Outside the door, Ran sighed softly. "Senior must be mistaking friendship for love… I'll explain it to her once she's feeling better."

Sonoko, however, looked deadly serious. "Nope. She's absolutely right. It is love."

Ran: "…?"

Sonoko didn't notice the confusion plastered on her friend's face. She clasped her hands over her chest and went full dreamy-eyed. In her mind, Jiangxia was frozen in awe before her beauty, chained by adoration, unwilling to leave her side. A pure, romantic moment.

Then she remembered that "you" had been plural.

And if it was love…

Jiangxia was a scumbag.

Her mental fanfic warped instantly. Jiangxia became a dazzling, whirlwind playboy, spinning between hordes of beautiful women like a moth summoned by pheromones.

Sonoko: "…"

A vein throbbed in her forehead. Her daydream shattered like a plate dropped in a comedy skit. She sighed: "…Alright. Let's call it friendship for now."

But in her heart, a chill bloomed. So this is what society does to people, she thought. Once you're a cadre of the adult world, you assume any boy and girl standing together must be dating. Tch. Bitter grown-ups.

Conan, standing beside them in his usual pint-sized form, remained silent, but his expression was... complicated.

As a high school boy who liked Ran, the things Senior Endo and Sonoko had said just now hit him like a ton of emotional bricks.

But as a detective, he couldn't help fact-checking their statements.

He recalled the "glowing eyes" that Mami described—and felt a sudden, creeping horror. Objectively speaking, every time Jiangxia saw him or Jiangxia Hattori, his eyes did seem to shine brighter…

Senior's voice echoed again in his head: Sometimes, friendship turns into something more…

Conan's face slowly shifted from jealousy to alarm.

Hair stood on end.

No. No. It's FRIENDSHIP. Just friendship!! Senior is wrong. Very, very wrong.

Meanwhile, the girls were oblivious to the panicking child vibrating at their feet.

They moved on to other gossip.

Sonoko perked up. "But if Senior hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have noticed Jiangxia treats us so differently."

Looks like that "build strong bonds" action plan was working after all! No need to worry about some shady psychologist wrecking his headspace anymore.

Ran nodded, and a strange sense of righteous duty swelled in both girls.

As this bizarre stat maxed out in Sonoko's brain, she suddenly paused mid-stride.

She remembered something—and guilt hit her like a pot from the sky.

After a moment's hesitation, she mumbled to Ran, "Um… what if… we brought Jiangxia to that gathering?"

Now that she thought about it, it had been a while since they'd hung out with him properly. The gathering yesterday? That had been Mami's invitation. Jiangxia had only popped by at the end. And now, stacking that with what they'd just talked about…

She felt like a horrible person.

The kind of innocent bear child who raises someone's affection bar and then ghosts them.

And the "gathering" in question? It was an offline meetup from one of Sonoko's favorite magician forums.

See, Sonoko liked lurking online under a male alias. She had this fantasy where she'd show up IRL and people would gasp, "Wait, you're that cool member? And a cute girl?!"

Also, she had an online friend called "Red Herring." No pics exchanged, but based on his vibes, she was sure he was SSR-tier handsome.

Which was why she hadn't planned on inviting Jiangxia. She hadn't told anyone but Ran.

But now, remembering how Jiangxia had dashed into a burning building the other night to save a friend…

Yeah. She couldn't leave him out.

One minute she was imagining meeting Red Herring and falling into a fairytale romance. The next, she saw Jiangxia alone under a flickering streetlamp, watching his friends walk off without him like a tragic NPC.

…That sealed it.

Sonoko gritted her teeth, pulled out her phone, and messaged Jiangxia.

He replied immediately: "Sure."

Sonoko froze. She scrolled through their past messages, looked at the speed of the reply, and had a sudden horrifying realization: Did he set her as a special contact?!

…Good call inviting him after all.

She let out a huge sigh and slipped her phone back in her pocket.

Then muttered to herself, half-proud, half-defeated, "…I really am a good person."

…

Meanwhile, when Sonoko sent the message, Jiangxia instantly thought of that case.

He wasn't surprised at all.

Kid had already mentioned there'd be a magician's meetup coming up when he stole that billiard cue. He was also part of that forum, going by the alias "Red Herring."

He even gave himself a fake full name: Katsuki Doito—a clumsy anagram of "Kaito Kid."

—

*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.

Progress: 9/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS

Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.

Progress:2/10*