Chapter 17
The Sudden Appearance of the 'Foreigner'
"Conan, are you alright? You look terrible all day."
"Whose fault is that?!"
Clutching his stomach, Conan Edogawa felt even weaker.
Yesterday, he was delayed in going into the kitchen because he suddenly received a call from Professor Agasa, and he found that Jonah had almost finished cooking.
It might not look very good, but Conan Edogawa can understand. Jonah is just a kid, so it's normal that he's not very good at cooking.
As long as the taste is similar, one bite is enough.
But after taking the first bite of scrambled eggs, Conan Edogawa slammed his head on the table, struggling to lift his head in disbelief, and looked at Jonah, who was eating the food with a blank expression.
"Jonah, may I try some of your plate?"
"it is good."
Unconvinced, Conan Edogawa took a bite of the food on Jonah's plate, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly got up and rushed to the kitchen to drink water in large gulps.
Conan Edogawa was surprised that Jonah's cooking was so bad, and that he used too much seasoning.
"Jonah, don't eat this anymore, just throw it away. I'll order takeout."
"Conan, don't waste food. Just give it all to me. You can order takeout."
"...It's fine, what's the difference between eating and not eating (gritting teeth)."
That night, the detective, whose stomach wasn't as sharp as the young soldier's, went to the toilet five times, which worsened his already budding cold. He was weak all day at school today and looked sickly.
"Jonah, you go back first. I just remembered I need to buy something. I'll be home in a bit."
"I'll go with you."
"No need, I'll be back soon. You should go home and help Sister Xiaolan tidy up the house, otherwise Uncle will get scolded again."
"Okay." After thinking about it, Jonah realized that Conan Edogawa's words made sense, so he slung his backpack over his shoulder and returned to the detective agency.
Upon opening the door to the office on the second floor, Jonah saw Kogoro Mouri asleep in a chair, while Ran Mouri was tidying up the table and chatting on the phone with someone.
Blinking, Jonah quietly walked to the sofa and put down his schoolbag. He was about to go to the bathroom to get a mop to help tidy up the room when he suddenly heard Ran Mouri say the word "Shinichi".
Jonah's eyes sharpened instantly. He changed direction and quietly approached Ran Mouri, trying to hear what the person on the other end of the phone was saying.
Just then, there was a knock on the door of the detective agency. Jonah was stunned for a moment, then had to run to open the door.
"Hey kid, hello there! Your skin tone looks just like mine."
"Hello." Jonah was a little surprised to see the dark-skinned boy in front of him. He had been in Japan for so long, and this was the first time he had ever met a foreigner.
"Sister Xiaolan, we have foreign guests."
Jonah turned and called out to Ran Mouri, who had hung up the phone because a guest had arrived. Little did he know that his ordinary words would deeply sting Heiji Hattori behind him.
"Hey kid, I'm not some foreigner, I'm a native Japanese!"
Unexpectedly provoked by Jonah, Hattori Heiji gave a wry smile and reached out to ruffle Jonah's hair to vent his frustration.
Sensing the approaching hand from behind, Yoshino reacted instinctively, blocking Hattori Heiji's hand with his right hand and grabbing his wrist with his other hand. His left hand instinctively reached behind him, and as his body spun to the side, his right foot aimed at Hattori Heiji's left knee, ready to kick down.
But at the critical moment, Jonah suddenly realized that the person in front of him might be a client. If he hit him, Kogoro Mouri would lose a business opportunity. So he quickly changed his actions and staggered to the side.
"Oh, watch out, kid."
He reacted quickly, grabbing Jonah's clothes to prevent him from falling. Heiji Hattori looked at Jonah with surprise, his mind flashing back to the series of actions Jonah had just taken in that instant.
Heiji Hattori knew that if Jonah hadn't stopped, he would have been kicked to the ground by now.
What's up with this dark-skinned kid? His movements are a bit too sharp and professional.
What bothered Heiji Hattori the most was Jonah's subconscious gesture of reaching for his lower back with his left hand; it looked exactly like he was about to pull out a knife from behind his back and slash himself.
"Hey kid, who are you?"
"He's an elementary school student." Jonah looked at Hattori Heiji with a puzzled expression and gave a very calm answer.
"Ha, of course I know you're an elementary school student." Enraged by Jonah's look of disdain, Hattori Heiji squatted down, glaring fiercely at Jonah, ready to have a good argument with this brat who had angered him the moment they met.
"Hello, sir. What can I do for you?"
At this moment, Ran Mouri finally reacted, walked over and hugged Jonah, keeping Jonah away from Heiji Hattori, and frowned as she looked at the guest who had suddenly arrived.
"Ah, I'm here to find someone."
Seeing Jonah being picked up and looking very obedient, Hattori Heiji clicked his tongue and suddenly felt that he was being ridiculous. Why was he arguing with a child?
Heiji Hattori stood up, clapped his hands, looked at Ran Mouri, and smiled again.
"Shinichi Kudo, he's here with you, right? Tell him to come out and see me."
......
When Conan Edogawa returned to the detective agency, he saw Heiji Hattori smugly conducting an accurate and reasonable deduction based on Ran Mouri's words.
When Conan Edogawa heard Heiji Hattori tell Ran Mouri, "Shinichi Kudo is definitely watching you secretly right next to you," his eyes widened in alarm.
He felt fine with Hattori Heiji's accurate reasoning, but standing next to Mouri Ran, Jonah's eyes narrowed and he revealed his combat form after hearing those words, which truly gave Edogawa Conan the creeps!
Hey Jonah, you're never this attentive in class! Are you really afraid of missing a single word of Hattori Heiji's reasoning?
And what's with that hand that keeps reaching behind your back? You just got home... Oh my god, you didn't bring a knife to school, did you?!
Overwhelmed with emotion, Conan Edogawa coughed a few more times, and his mind became hazy.
When Conan Edogawa came to his senses, he suddenly found himself holding a teacup filled with fragrant water.
Conan Edogawa, who was thirsty, didn't think much of it and started drinking from the cup. His sense of taste, which had been impaired by a cold, prevented him from noticing anything amiss until he drank all the "water" in the cup in one gulp. Only then did he realize that something was wrong.
"Conan, what's wrong?"
Noticing Conan Edogawa's strange behavior, Jonah walked over to him, took the cup, and sniffed it.
"Jonah, what happened to Conan?"
"It's okay, Ran-neechan, Conan just drank."
"Oh, so he's been drinking... What! How could he drink!"