Chapter 95: Is It Too Late to Return the Goods Now?
At the dinner table, Mouri Kogoro had mostly sobered up—startled awake purely by Chi Feichi's seriousness. Seeing Chi Feichi talking to Conan, he kept wanting to say something to Mouri Ran but hesitated again and again...
He tended to say whatever came to mind after drinking.
Now that Chi Feichi was so serious, it wasn't that he wanted to go back on his word, just that the formality of it all made him nervous.
Mouri Ran hadn't planned on interfering, hoping Mouri Kogoro would learn his lesson about drinking in the future.
But seeing his conflicted expression, she couldn't help but ask, "Dad, what are you really thinking? Feichi-nii is serious now, it wouldn't be good to back out…"
"I'm not thinking of backing out," Mouri Kogoro immediately defended himself.
"Why would I regret having the young master of a large conglomerate as a disciple? And when it comes to deduction, having a famous detective like me teach him, he's not getting a bad deal either!"
Seeing Mouri Kogoro starting to get smug again, Mouri Ran quickly interrupted, "If you're not backing out, then what are you stressing about?"
Mouri Kogoro paused, then muttered under his breath, "It just feels too sudden…"
"Weren't you the one who suggested it first?" Mouri Ran was exasperated with her father.
Chatting with his daughter, Mouri Kogoro wasn't nervous anymore and started laughing again.
"Anyway, it's a good thing, that's all that matters!"
Mouri Ran: "…"
She couldn't refute it; it really was a good thing…
As they spoke, Chi Feichi and Conan came over.
"Teacher, I have no problem on my end." Chi Feichi directly changed how he addressed him.
Mouri Kogoro mentally rehearsed what to say, then looked up at Chi Feichi.
"Ahem…"
What was with this cold expression, like looking at a stranger?
Why didn't he feel like a teacher at all, even though Chi Feichi had called him 'Teacher' with such a serious tone?
Chi Feichi sat down, quietly looking at Mouri Kogoro, waiting for him to continue.
Mouri Kogoro: "…"
He suddenly understood why he had been nervous earlier.
He probably had a premonition that having such a disciple might make his future life a bit strange, and he was regretting it…
Chi Feichi looked at Mouri Kogoro, waiting patiently for him to continue.
Mouri Kogoro: "…"
Is it too late to return the goods now?
Alright, he had to stand by his own words, even if it killed him.
But the atmosphere seemed to have frozen.
What should he say next?
Conan hadn't noticed the awkward silence over here.
Back in his seat, he lowered his head, wondering what Chi Feichi really meant.
He didn't believe Chi Feichi couldn't see Uncle Mouri's actual capabilities, so why did he still want to become Uncle Mouri's disciple?
Did Chi Feichi drink too much? Or did he drink too much last night and still hadn't sobered up?
Had Chi Feichi seen something? Was the Uncle secretly skilled? Or did Chi Feichi have some ulterior motive?
Mouri Ran glanced over; Chi Feichi and her dad were staring at each other silently.
She glanced to the side; Conan had his head down in silence, looking like a withdrawn child.
For a moment, she didn't know what to say either.
Silence.
A minute later, Conan snapped back to reality.
Looking up, he realized everyone was silent, and felt a bit awkward.
"Um… aren't we going to continue eating?"
"Ah, sorry, Conan," Mouri Ran came back to her senses, picked up her chopsticks, and turned with a smile.
"Dad, Feichi-nii, you two should eat too. We're not strangers here, you can talk about things while eating."
"Right," Mouri Kogoro addressed Chi Feichi, uncharacteristically serious.
"Let's eat. Since you call me Teacher, I'll definitely teach you what I can. What I said before about introducing me to rich clients was just a joke, but… ahem… if it's convenient, it would still be better to introduce them to me, right?"
Chi Feichi nodded.
"Keep it in the family."
Mouri Kogoro laughed.
"Yeah! Besides, it's good for them too if their cases come to a famous detective like me!"
Conan watched as the atmosphere at the table returned to normal, with no trace of the earlier awkward silence, his expression peculiar.
Why did it feel like the world had been put on pause before, and his single sentence had just canceled the pause?
"Teacher Mouri, I've been busy with graduation lately, and I have some other matters to handle, so I might not be able to follow you and learn constantly," Chi Feichi said.
"No problem, go ahead and take care of your business," Mouri Kogoro didn't think it was a big deal.
Plus, the fact that his disciple informed him made him feel respected again.
"Anyway, it's not like you'll become a detective in the future; you'll have to inherit the family business eventually. I can just give you some pointers when you have time. Learning detective skills isn't a bad thing; it can train your thinking and observation abilities…"
Huh?
Conan was a bit surprised.
It was rare for the Uncle to be so serious and speak so reasonably.
Does having a disciple really change a person?
"There are many other benefits, like broadening your horizons, and for example…" Mouri Kogoro paused, then laughed.
"If someone tries to murder you in the future, having seen many cases, you'll be experienced and might notice it in advance… Hahaha!"
Conan: "…"
Alright, the Uncle was still the same Uncle…
The meal finished peacefully.
Conan sighed in relief internally, feeling strangely tired from this meal.
But why did he feel tired?
He couldn't figure it out.
Chi Feichi, however, didn't feel anything unusual.
There were just two awkward silences.
Back at Aoyama Fourth Hospital, he had seen plenty of situations where people chatting would suddenly fall silent individually, and also situations where several silent people would suddenly start talking past each other.
Was it strange? Not strange at all.
"Conan, why do you look so listless?" Mouri Ran asked.
"After playing all morning and rushing back from Izu, are you feeling tired?"
"I am a bit tired…" Conan nodded.
Right, it was probably because he played for a long time, and a child's body couldn't keep up physically, making him feel weary.
"Then you should rest early, I'll head back first." Chi Feichi stood up, exchanged contact information with Mouri Kogoro, and took his leave.
Downstairs, he got in his car and drove away.
Feichi slithered into the passenger seat on its own and stretched its body.
"I was about to burst from holding back! Master, why did you become that uncle's disciple? Back at the Sonoda residence, he even suspected you were the murderer. I don't think he's nearly as capable as you are!"
"Mouri Kogoro…" Chi Feichi looked at the road ahead while driving, silent for a moment.
"When he graduated from the police academy, he ranked first in marksmanship class. After becoming a police officer, he frequently proposed flawed lines of reasoning for cases, leading other officers astray…"
Feichi: "…"
This…
Did Master misspeak?
Shouldn't he be summarizing Mouri Kogoro's strengths?
"However, when people he cares about are involved, he's actually quite skilled at solving cases," Chi Feichi said.
"It's hard to say whether he's just muddled or hiding something."
"Master finds him curious?" Feichi moved closer in the passenger seat, lowered its voice, and asked mysteriously, "Should we investigate him then?"
Chi Feichi: "…"
They were in the car, and no one could hear their conversation.
Even if there were people or listening devices nearby, they wouldn't be able to hear Feichi's voice.
Feimo couldn't avoid the crow's 'caw caw' sound when speaking, but even when Feichi spoke, to others, it just looked like it was flicking its tongue, without making any sound at all.
So the question was, why did Feichi deliberately lower its voice?
"They wouldn't be wary of a snake. As long as I spend more time alone with him, I'll definitely be able to overhear some secrets," Feichi continued in a hushed voice.
"There's no need to investigate specifically," Chi Feichi said.
"Besides, I don't think you'd succeed. Don't forget, Conan has lived with him for so long. If Mr. Mouri had any abnormalities, Conan would have suspected long ago."
"True, humans are really complicated," Feichi sighed, then added, "By the way, Master, I think I discovered something incredible yesterday!"
"Yesterday?" Chi Feichi thought back.
"After I scared Conan, the time you wanted to stay in the car?"
End of Chapter