The bell rang, teachers left the classrooms, and amidst the students' cheers, school was finally out.
At the shoe lockers, Shu Yunwen had just put on his shoes when he saw a disheveled-looking Aizawa Eisuke standing before him, head bowed low, at a sixty-five-degree angle.
"Shu Yunwen, I'm truly sorry, I apologize to you…"
"It's Aizawa!"
Shu Yunwen nodded, slinging his schoolbag over his shoulder.
"Is it about this morning? I told you, I've already forgiven you…"
Aizawa Eisuke scratched his head awkwardly.
"But… but, I'm still currently…"
Aizawa Eisuke looked at Shu Yunwen with a hint of fear in his eyes.
The events of this morning, in Aizawa Eisuke's view, were simply like being possessed by a jinx.
Accidents kept happening during class; not only did his stool and desk break, but when things finally seemed fine, he idly twirled his pen, and the pen flew into his face, spraying ink everywhere, making his whole face "black." He went to the restroom during break and ended up falling down. When he washed his hands, a dead cockroach actually came out of the faucet. Aizawa Eisuke was terrified of things like cockroaches; can you imagine a grown man running out of the restroom with his pants down, yelling "There's a cockroach"?
During lunch break, he found a fly in his bento; during P.E. class, while running, he was chased by a dog for several hundred meters…
Anyway, today, he was simply the epitome of bad luck.
Just now, his best friend and bad influence, Nakamichi, had helped him inquire about Shu Yunwen's situation, and he actually managed to dig up some information from the third-year students.
Shu Yunwen had previously been classmates with Tsukamoto Kazumi from the third year. He was known to be modest, with excellent grades, a model student in every sense. Later, Shu Yunwen's entire family was in a car accident on their way back from a trip. His father and mother died on the spot, while Shu Yunwen miraculously survived, but remained in a coma for two whole years, only waking up recently.
Of course, that wasn't the main point. The main point was…
Shu Yunwen's family actually used to run an Exorcism Agency! His father, Shu Keqin, was a famous exorcist, highly renowned in the Kanto region, and had close ties with many elites in politics and business.
Shu Yunwen's father was a very powerful exorcist!
Exorcists, Onmyoji, fortune-tellers, and the like were very mysterious in Japan.
Many Japanese people were quite superstitious about these kinds of things.
Aizawa Eisuke used to scoff at such matters, but after today's experiences, he was starting to believe.
He felt that he must have been cursed by Shu Yunwen.
If Shu Yunwen's father was an exorcist, then Shu Yunwen naturally was too. Therefore, the reason he was so unlucky now must be because Shu Yunwen had cursed him.
Shu Yunwen smiled at the pitiable-looking Aizawa Eisuke and said,
"If it's about the curse, please forgive my inability to help. However, Aizawa doesn't need to worry too much. This kind of curse doesn't last long; by tomorrow morning, everything will be over."
Lifting this spell from Aizawa Eisuke was, of course, something Shu Yunwen could do.
However, why would he do that? You know, he didn't have much mystic power right now. Spells like "Bad Luck Follows" could only be cast three more times. How could he waste mystic power on Aizawa Eisuke?
"Well… alright then."
Aizawa Eisuke said helplessly, bowed again, and left with his two best friends.
Beside them, Kudo Shinichi curled his lip disdainfully.
"What curse? This must all be a coincidence! It's a coincidence!"
As he was speaking, Aizawa Eisuke missed a step and fell to the ground again. The nearby Nakamichi was also implicated. As he was about to fall, he grabbed onto something unknown beside him to steady himself, only to realize he had grabbed a girl, and one of his hands was pressed against her chest…
"…Ah! Perv~ert!"
With a "thump," Nakamichi was knocked to the ground.
Kudo Shinichi: "…"
Ran: "…"
Sonoko: "…"
After a while, Ran finally chuckled.
"Aizawa's luck seems really bad, huh."
Shu Yunwen smiled and looked at Kudo Shinichi.
"If Kudo doesn't believe it, you can try cursing me once…"
As he spoke, Shu Yunwen muttered to himself, if the "washing machine" really dared to curse him, he would be willing to waste one use of his mystic power to let the "washing machine" also taste what "Bad Luck Follows" felt like.
Before Kudo Shinichi could answer, a voice came from behind Shu Yunwen:
"Yunwen-san…"
Shu Yunwen turned his head upon hearing the voice and was momentarily stunned by the person he saw.
"It's Tsukamoto-senpai…"
The person who appeared before Shu Yunwen was none other than Tsukamoto Kazumi.
Tsukamoto Kazumi looked at Shu Yunwen with a complex expression.
"Yunwen-san, you always used to call me Kazumi."
"Is that so?"
Shu Yunwen tried hard to recall, then said,
"I'm really sorry, you know, after I woke up, I lost some of my memories…"
"It's alright, I'll help you recover your memories."
Tsukamoto Kazumi said.
"Also, Yunwen-san, please call me 'Kazumi' directly from now on, okay?"
"Alright, Kazumi-san."
Shu Yunwen looked at the woman before him, feeling increasingly certain that his predecessor's relationship with Tsukamoto Kazumi was not ordinary.
Tsukamoto Kazumi smiled sweetly, then asked,
"Will Yunwen-san have some time later? If you do, I'd like to treat Yunwen-san to a cup of coffee…"
Shu Yunwen was taken aback for a moment, then said,
"I'm very sorry, Kazumi-san, I have some other things to attend to today. You know, I just woke up recently, and there are many things to do, so…"
"It's alright. If Yunwen-san is busy today, then another day. Goodbye, Yunwen-san."
Tsukamoto Kazumi turned and left.
Shu Yunwen rubbed his nose. His pager suddenly beeped. He took it out, glanced at it, then immediately waved at the still dazed Kudo Shinichi, Ran, and Sonoko, and walked towards the school gate.
Only then did Kudo Shinichi, Ran, and Sonoko snap back to reality.
"Huh? Was that really Kazumi-senpai just now? I've never seen Kazumi-senpai talk to anyone like that!"
Kudo Shinichi looked astonished.
In his impression, Tsukamoto Kazumi had always been a very tough tomboy, right?
That demeanor just now… was she possessed by a spirit?
"Kazumi-senpai seems to want to go on a date with Shu-san, but Shu-san actually refused!"
Ran was also surprised.
Sonoko was practically burning with the fire of gossip.
"There's definitely some secret between those two!"
After a pause, Sonoko continued,
"Oh right, I remember that Hidaka guy once said that Kazumi-senpai seemed to have dated someone in her first year. Could it be that Kazumi-senpai's boyfriend was that uncle-looking guy?"
Ran quickly said,
"Sonoko, you shouldn't gossip about your seniors behind their backs. Also, Shu is very strange, aren't you afraid of being cursed?"
Sonoko, as if she hadn't heard Ran's words, waved her fists, looking like a Saint Seiya with explosive combat power.
"…Next, watch me, Miss Sonoko, uncover the truth of the matter!"
"Hehehe…"
Ran smiled helplessly.
Kudo Shinichi rolled his eyes and quickly walked out.
"Ran, let's go!"
…
Outside the school.
The door of a black car parked outside opened, and a short, chubby middle-aged man stepped out. Upon seeing Shu Yunwen wave, he immediately said,
"Hello, Shu-san. My name is Yamazaki Myoji, general manager of Hachiryo Bank, and a friend of your father, Master Keqin… Uh… Y-you're actually not dead? That's wonderful, Master Keqin… My friend Iwata Daijiro has encountered some strange 'trouble.' If you could help, then everything will be alright…"
Yamazaki Myoji was talking, but after seeing Shu Yunwen's appearance, he rubbed his eyes hard, and his attitude immediately became much more respectful.
Shu Yunwen gave a helpless, bitter smile.
"Mr. Yamazaki, you've misunderstood. I am Shu Yunwen, not my father. My father indeed died in the car accident, and the reason I look so old is because I've been cultivating our family's traditional exorcism arts…"
"Is-is that so?"
Yamazaki Myoji was stunned for a moment, then looked carefully again. This time, he really recognized him.
Shu Yunwen had a mole on the left side of his neck, while Shu Keqin's neck did not.
He had indeed mistaken him.
"I'm truly sorry, that was rude of me."
Yamazaki Myoji apologized, then continued,
"By the way, Shu-san, the kind of spiritual talisman your father drew, the one I asked you to bring…"
"Please wait a moment."
As Shu Yunwen spoke, he took out his wallet from his pocket, pulled out a yellowish-brown, so-called spiritual talisman, and handed it to Yamazaki Myoji.
"Mr. Yamazaki, this is the spiritual talisman you wanted."
Yamazaki Myoji took it, glanced at it, then carefully put it away, and presented a check with both hands.
"Thank you for your trouble, Shu-san. This is the fee for this spiritual talisman, please accept it."
Regarding the authenticity of the spiritual talisman, Yamazaki Myoji had no doubts.
Japan is a nation built on trust. The more prominent a person is, the more they value trust. This is especially true for professions like exorcists, because just one mistake can immediately spread within certain circles, leading to ruin and disgrace.
Therefore, Yamazaki Myoji believed that Shu Yunwen would not fake this matter.
Shu Yunwen took the check and glanced at it.
Fifty thousand?
His "convenient" dad's talismans were that cheap back then, only fifty thousand yen?
He took a closer look—
Alright, so the currency unit was US dollars! Calculated this way, it was equivalent to five million yen, which was more reasonable.
Shu Yunwen put the check away, then said,
"Mr. Yamazaki, although you've obtained the spiritual talisman, talismans are not omnipotent, after all. I wonder if it's convenient for your friend; I'd like to pay him a visit personally to confirm. As for my abilities… I do have some, perhaps I can be of some help."
Shu Yunwen's request wasn't just to stir up trouble.
He would have to make a living in the Conan world in the future, wouldn't he?
He wasn't entirely sure what kind of "trouble" Yamazaki Myoji's friend had encountered. If it was truly some evil spirit, this "useless" talisman wouldn't do a damn thing! If something went wrong and his reputation was ruined, it would take a lot of effort to salvage it!
So, it was better to go take a look now.
Better safe than sorry!
"Well… then I'll have to trouble Shu-san."
Yamazaki Myoji hesitated for a moment, but still agreed.
"My friend Iwata Daijiro happens to be hosting a banquet at his residence today. He will be very happy if you can come."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Yamazaki."
Shu Yunwen thanked him again.
PS: Ahem… Everyone, guess who this Yamazaki Myoji is?