Hattori Heiji was fired up for his next detective showdown.
But when he got to the front door of Jiang Xia's office, all he saw was a "Closed" sign—and a guy in the middle of locking up.
The guy turned around as Hattori approached. It was Toru Amuro. Sensing someone behind him, he paused with the keys still in his hand and sized up the newcomer.
Hattori gave Amuro a once-over too. Okay, this foreign-looking dude clearly wasn't Jiang Xia. But since they were both connected to the same detective agency, there had to be a link.
Heiji stepped forward. "So, that detective—Jiang Xia. He works part-time here? When's he usually around?"
Amuro pointed toward a clipboard hanging beside the door. "No set schedule. If you want to see him, fill out the form. He'll check it when he's free."
"I see..." Hattori rubbed his chin, intrigued. Then out of nowhere, he blurted, "What about Kudo Shinichi?"
Amuro: "…?" Who?
"I've been wondering," Hattori said, eyes sharp, "whether it's Jiang Xia who's solving these cases… or if it's actually the 'missing' Kudo Shinichi pulling the strings."
He pressed on before Amuro could reply. "I looked into this agency. You guys advertised a lot at first, but no one noticed you. Then—boom—Kudo Shinichi disappears, and suddenly you're all over the news. Don't you think that's a little too convenient?"
He stared at Amuro, watching for a tell—anything to prove this tool person wasn't just playing dumb. But Amuro's expression remained a perfect mix of confusion and "What the hell are you talking about?"
Hattori clicked his tongue. Wow. This guy's good. No cracks in the mask at all. Definitely the kind of cadre you'd expect to be in cahoots with Kudo and Jiang Xia. "Alright, I'll be blunt—Is Kudo Shinichi hiding out with you and feeding Jiang Xia answers?"
Amuro's brow twitched. That theory. It reminded him of the idiotic "Kudo Shinichi Possession Theory" that made the rounds a while back. The kind of yinbi take that just kicked science in the teeth…
His opinion of Hattori dropped by 50% on the spot.
Still… at least Hattori hadn't claimed ghost possession. His theory, dumb as it was, was grounded in reality. Barely. Amuro grudgingly bumped his impression back up by 3%.
"So you're saying Jiang Xia is cheating?" Amuro looked at him with an oddly friendly smile. "If you came all the way here to throw shade, I assume you did your homework? Because if you read the case reports, you'd know Jiang Xia and Kudo Shinichi have totally different solving styles."
"You probably got this idea from the media, right? It's fine to be curious, but a real detective should have their own judgment. Not just get yanked around by every pot-stirring article." He paused, squinting. "Wait a second… you look familiar. Aren't you the high school detective from Osaka? Hattori Heiji?"
Hattori stiffened.
He'd been about to argue—being called "easily manipulated" really ground his gears—but now his mood shifted fast.
He adjusted the brim of his cap, trying to look cool. "You know me?" Ah, the curse of fame. Can't even pick a fight without running into a fan.
"Oh, yeah." Amuro nodded. "We clipped news reports of different detectives for reference. You were in there too—every time, all in black and white. We had to dig around to find color photos of you… Black-and-white print really doesn't do you justice."
Hattori: "…???"
Why the hell are we talking about my skin tone now?!
He barked, flustered. "And you think you've got room to talk?! If you were in the newspaper, you'd look like a disaster!"
Without warning, Amuro lifted a hand.
Hattori jerked sideways instinctively—expecting a sudden attack. But Amuro wasn't swinging at him. He simply held his hand out.
When their hands hovered side by side, the difference became obvious.
"See?" Amuro said calmly. "I'm actually a bit lighter than you."
Hattori: "…"
His eye twitched.
"Wait—why are we even talking about this?! I was asking about Jiang Xia and Kudo Shinichi! What does skin color have to do with anything?!"
"Nothing," Amuro said serenely. "It was just a sudden, completely unrelated thought. Kind of like how you randomly lumped together two totally separate detectives."
Having thoroughly bullied the visiting junior, Amuro gave a satisfied smile and dropped his hand.
"For us, solving cases isn't a game. It's a job. Don't come here treating it like a competition or something fun to pass the time. We take it seriously… So maybe don't come back."
With that, Amuro clicked the lock into place and walked off.
Hattori stared after him. Then looked at the locked door.
"…Tokyo detectives are such jerks."
He'd come all this way and hadn't even seen Jiang Xia or Kudo Shinichi. Got mocked for his theories. And for his skin tone. Incredible. His impression of Tokyo dropped -1, -1, -1.
But along with his disappointment came a rising fire. He'd come here to challenge the best detective in the East—and he wasn't giving up that easy.
Though honestly, he wasn't sure if "the famous detective in the East" was supposed to be Jiang Xia or Kudo Shinichi. The case-solving styles were completely different. Like critics had pointed out—unlike Kudo, who liked building suspense, Jiang Xia solved everything straight-up, like he was reading the answer key.
Which made Hattori suspicious. What if Kudo was secretly telling Jiang Xia the solutions?
No normal person solves cases that fast, that accurately. Unless someone whispered the ending ahead of time. Then it'd make total sense.
Still, that was just a theory. Maybe Jiang Xia really was a crime-solving genius.
Either way, Hattori was determined to get to the bottom of it—with his own reasoning.
Now, Kudo Shinichi was MIA.
Jiang Xia, on the other hand, was tied to this office—its name was plastered in every article. At first, Hattori thought it'd be a pain to track down his workplace through all the case reports, but turns out, Jiang Xia basically watermarked the agency address in bold on every case he touched.
So Hattori came here, planning to sniff out the truth.
If Jiang Xia was the real deal—he'd face off with him.
If it turned out Kudo was hiding in the background—then he'd drag Kudo out for a head-to-head.
Unfortunately, reality wasn't cooperating. Jiang Xia wasn't around. No home address listed. And judging from the last conversation, asking the staff here was… not productive.
Hattori sighed, still standing at the door. The people here really were short-tempered. No wonder all those ads hadn't brought in customers.
Still, he rallied fast.
Because there was one other lead.
Kudo Shinichi… had a girlfriend.
With fresh determination, Hattori picked up his luggage and set off once more.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 36/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:1/10*
Glossary:
Pot (as in "stirring the pot") – Causing drama or confusion, especially through gossip or assumptions.