It took a while before the staff relayed the chaos from the bride's waiting room back to the lounge.
By then, the ambulance had already arrived.
A crowd gathered at the church entrance—some worried, some curious.
XiaoBai floated in mid-air, watching the ambulance drive off and Sayuri Matsumoto, who was trying to get in but was stopped. She dabbed her eyes with a translucent handkerchief and, like a lecture-giving professor, shared her twisted philosophy with the other spirits, sniffling: "In the face of misunderstanding, the beauty of life-and-death separation is truly an eternal truth that overwhelms all."
Jiangxia silently patted the excited ghost, who was floating around again, then lifted her up for a closer look. Had this ghost gone off the rails…
Instantly, all those cheesy melodramatic dramas XiaoBai had been forced to watch in the basement flashed through Jiangxia's mind.
Then he firmly shook the thought away.
Nope. It's not melodrama. It has to be the fault of those parent ghosts. Definitely.
…
With the groom rushed away by ambulance, the wedding naturally ground to a halt.
The police quickly secured the scene and returned to the bride's waiting room.
Under questioning, Sayuri Matsumoto quietly explained how she realized the drink was poisoned and then drank from the blood pack.
She left out the part about XiaoBai appearing—after all, that could mean a living child was involved. Sayuri Matsumoto paused and decided to take the blame herself for the reckless idea, even if it was actually the kid's suggestion—she had indeed wanted to try it at the time.
The others went from shocked to strangely silent.
When Toshihiko Takasugi realized the bride was poisoned, his first reaction wasn't to call for help, but to drink the lemon tea beside him. At first, this seemed like some artsy young guy ready to die for love—but on closer thought, it was oddly off. Not something a normal adult would do.
Unless his mind was truly broken, or… he felt guilty because the poison in the lemon tea had something to do with him.
…
Conan woke up amid the noise, finding himself sitting on a bench near the restroom.
He rubbed his numb shoulder, looked around, then jumped up confused and ran toward the bride's waiting room, where a crowd had gathered at the door.
Peeking inside, he froze when his eyes landed on the blood-soaked Teacher Matsumoto. What happened? What had XiaoBai done this time?!
Jiangxia stood right in the spotlight.
He had planned to sneak in quietly and slack off, but Inspector Megure's skill at finding his juniors was too good. He spotted Jiangxia in the crowd and dragged him forward, asking, "What do you think?"
Jiangxia had no choice but to enter the all-too-familiar bride's waiting room, study the clues and evidence, and then reveal the parts of the poisoning story Sayuri Matsumoto had left out, one by one.
…
As Jiangxia went about reciting the facts like an emotionless script-reading machine, some older female students in the crowd watched him with mild curiosity.
The senior students exchanged whispers, "Jiangxia actually came to Teacher Matsumoto's wedding… Did he ever take music class?"
"He did," said Mami Endo, the group's unofficial leader, as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her face gentle but thoughtful. "A few years ago, when I was on duty, I caught him climbing over the wall. When I brought him back, his class just happened to be having music with Teacher Matsumoto."
The others chimed in playfully, "Ohh—" and recalled more details: there really weren't many students who could stump Mami. Most people, when gently persuaded one-on-one by this goddess-level student council president, would instantly be charmed and behave well for a while.
But that skill failed completely on Jiangxia Tongzhi back then.
He kept skipping classes effortlessly, and eventually repeated a year when entering high school.
In Mami Endo's all-powerful world, this silent rejection made a deep impression—though Jiangxia wasn't targeting anyone, he just wanted to skip class.
This gave her complicated feelings for him. To put it plainly: "Heh, man, you got my attention."
Yes, catching her attention was purely because Jiangxia ignored her advice, not because of any charm or looks.
Anyway, Mami Endo thought if she never saw Jiangxia again, it would just be a small regret from youth.
But now, this unexpected reunion sparked a new urge to "influence this guy with my charm."
She absentmindedly twirled a perfectly styled strand of hair, thinking about this unexpected second chance.
…
She'd heard boys were late bloomers, especially in middle school. Even when pretty seniors encouraged them to study, their only thought was, "Girls are just messing with my skipping class."
But now Jiangxia was a high schooler who looked almost like an adult, and she had become a university student—no more school uniforms worn by hundreds, but clothes that better suited her vibe…
A spark flashed in Mami Endo's gentle eyes, and she silently added a new plan to her mental to-do list.
As a first-year university student starting campus life, she felt it was time to close those youthful regrets properly.
…
Jiangxia's "deductions" gradually pieced together the poisoning truth.
Sayuri Matsumoto changed out of her wedding dress and, accompanied by her father, left the church where so much had happened. Exhausted, she was helped to rest and later went to the police station to give her statement.
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki, worried about her, followed along.
Jiangxia had collected all the clues he could from the incident: he caught the killer's intent, but probably wouldn't get the shikigami—after all, Toshihiko Takasugi himself had poured the poison. Even if he ended up dead, spirit-medium logic would call it suicide.
So Jiangxia wasn't in a rush to give his statement.
There was still time before evening, and he planned to stop by the detective agency to check the mailbox.
But just as he reached the door, someone called out from behind.
A girl, slightly older than him, smiled brightly and greeted naturally, "Long time no see."
Jiangxia looked at her—she kind of resembled a more mature Ran Mouri—and nodded back.
He hadn't met her before.
Recalling she said "long time no see," Jiangxia searched his memories and remembered she was an active, all-around senior student.
In middle school, the school required everyone to join at least one club, and Jiangxia had joined the soccer club.
Back then, the soccer club was crowded—mostly because of the beautiful manager, Mami Endo.
But Jiangxia wasn't there for the manager; he figured more people meant more chaos, which made it easier for him to skip activities unnoticed.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 53/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*