Kid didn't hesitate—he immediately handed over the cue stick.
The Tengu lowered his head, inspecting the stick like a rare artifact. Then he took it in his hands, gave it a meticulous wipe with a cloth… and started chewing on it, looking oddly satisfied.
Kid, watching all this from the corner of his eye, relaxed a little when he saw that the Tengu's trademark "I want to eat people" teeth had retracted.
Clearly, paying tribute had its uses. He and Grandpa Jii had sacrificed too much just to keep Aoko and other innocent people from being eaten by a yokai…
Kid sighed. While the Tengu busied himself with the cue stick, Kid turned to glance outside.
The police officers who had just stormed the billiard hall weren't after Kaitou Kid this time. They belonged to the Organized Crime Countermeasures Division. One by one, the unconscious boss and his black-suited underlings were being loaded into police cars.
The billiards expert, one of the boss's long-time minions, was also being taken away. Even Old Man Jii chased after them. The two old-timers exchanged grizzled, mutually respectful looks.
No one noticed the two weirdos still inside the hall.
Kid withdrew his gaze and returned to Tengu's side. After a pause, he leaned in and muttered quietly, "By the way… I might be heading to your old home soon."
Jiangxia: "…?"
He blinked, confused for a second—then connected the dots. "Old home" must refer to the mountain where Sannai Temple was located.
The Tengu legend was strongest around there. That's also where the old monk had used the legend to murder Chunen back in the day.
Otherwise, Kid couldn't possibly mean Jiangxia's actual home…
Having figured that out, Jiangxia gave Kid a look—Go if you want. Why are you reporting it to me? Gotten addicted to being robbed or something?
Also… what kind of treasures could be hidden in some deep mountain? Jiangxia began rifling through his memory for related cases.
Kid noticed the Tengu's look of mild bafflement and tried again: "I'm not going to steal treasure this time. I just want to inquire about something. That's why I'm telling you upfront."
—Mainly, he was afraid the Tengu would once again mysteriously track him down, sneak after him, and automatically assume there was treasure involved. Then, when it turned out to be a dud, he'd either get clobbered or someone else would get eaten as a snack…
That just wasn't fair.
Jiangxia couldn't quite follow the logic spiraling out of Kid's brain.
But one thing he did pick up on was: there might be a case.
Jiangxia put the cue stick aside for now and asked Kid for the time and location he'd be heading into the mountains.
After answering, Kid found himself suddenly wondering—how did yokai even tell time? Did they use calendars too?
…But then again, this was a modern yokai. If Tengu could show up just by following the Notice in the newspaper, then dates probably weren't a problem. Nothing to worry about.
Wait a second. Speaking of following Notices in newspapers…
Kid hesitated, then gave in to his curiosity.
Seeing the Tengu in a surprisingly good mood—still gnawing on the cue stick—Kid decided to ask, "How did you find me today? That boss never published a Notice."
Jiangxia answered flatly, "A chance encounter."
"Ah…" Kid felt relieved. The Tengu probably wouldn't bother lying. So it wasn't like he secretly stalked him every day—he just read the papers and staked out the scenes.
Although… come to think of it, a yokai living up in the mountains shouldn't be able to subscribe to newspapers, right? So… did he steal someone's? Borrow? Snatch?
Newspapers usually go in mailboxes… easy pickings…
…
Having absorbed the last bit of an energy core, Jiangxia casually handed the cue stick back to Kid. The ghosts around him floated comfortably, now properly charged.
Then, for no apparent reason, Kid suddenly turned solemn, whispering a piece of advice:
"Don't just take newspapers from the same house. They're cheap, sure, but if they go missing every day, the owner might call the police… or install cameras."
Jiangxia: "…?"
Before Jiangxia could ask what in the world that was about, Kid made a quick getaway with the cue stick. As he left, a guilty pang struck him—Had he just led a yokai astray?
Jiangxia watched him run off, completely baffled.
After Kid's figure disappeared, Jiangxia gave up trying to guess what that bizarre warning had been about.
He cleaned up the disguise props, dismissed the puppet, and returned to his main body.
…
The next day, Jiangxia did what he always did—checked the mailbox at the detective agency.
It was stuffed. He took everything out and walked into the room, sorting as he went. Ads went straight into the trash.
That halved the pile instantly.
What remained was mostly newspapers and appointment slips from clients.
Jiangxia was about to start organizing the requests when a sealed envelope fell out of one of the newspapers and landed on the floor with a quiet thump.
Startled, Jiangxia picked it up, a bit intrigued.
He flipped it over and saw: "…"
—The sender was clearly marked: Nakamura Misao.
He opened it with a glimmer of anticipation—and sure enough, it was a request for Jiangxia to visit her grandfather's villa and help solve a mystery.
It was… the clock case. The one he'd just solved.
Apparently, the letter had gotten delayed in the mail, but Jiangxia had already shown up and handled it.
The first official request letter he ever received had ended up being for a solved case.
Jiangxia gave a soft sigh. He tore off the phone number and name, then tossed both the letter and the remaining ad into the trash.
Being unintentionally ghosted by the client had seriously tanked his mood.
But that evening, he suddenly received a call from Amuro Tooru.
It was a job offer.
…
The next morning, Jiangxia arrived at a wedding planning company, using the address Amuro had given him.
And there, unexpectedly, was Amuro Tooru himself—waiting right outside the entrance.
That was surprising. Usually, Amuro only called him in to fill shifts.
But today… it looked like Amuro was going to be working with him.
Boss, did you recharge your batteries that fast? Jiangxia approached, both suspicious and curious, opened the car door, and got in.
Amuro wasn't driving his beloved Mazda today, but rather a company van with the wedding planner's logo on the side. He'd taken a part-time job helping organize an upcoming wedding.
The company's whole brand was "customization"—whatever the customer wanted, no matter how absurd, they'd try to make it happen.
Naturally, this meant fetching bizarre items, building props, and handling weird requests. Today, Amuro and Jiangxia were in charge of all that behind-the-scenes madness.
As they drove to pick up a custom-made prop, Amuro casually turned on his anti-eavesdropping device and swept it around the car.
Then he shut it off and looked over.
"Have you heard of Matsumoto Kiyonaga?"
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 28/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*