103 The Chaotic Hall

However, before Natori could ask anything further, a low gasp interrupted him:

“Natori-san?!”

The black-haired girl seated in the passenger seat beside the mustachioed uncle covered her mouth, her face alight with surprise and disbelief.

“Are you really Natori-san?”

She asked cautiously.

Natori paused for a moment at her words, then quickly regained his smile. As he removed his disguise—hat and glasses—he flashed his signature charming grin at the girl, his aura sparkling:

“Yes. I am Shuuichi Natori, at your service, lovely lady.”

“Ah!”

She uttered a small cry, as if she hadn’t expected such a response. Two bright blushes quickly appeared on her cheeks, and her beautiful eyes dared not glance at Natori again, instead darting nervously elsewhere…

But soon, she realized this was a mistake—

“Eh? Full text of ‘Lonely Master 2’! D-Dun... Dunhara-san?!”

Scanning the scene, her gaze landed on the black-haired young man standing nonchalantly behind Natori, and her cry reached a new pitch.

Ren Tsuruga, who had already braced himself for being recognized once his friend was spotted, responded with a gentle smile no less captivating than Natori’s:

“Good afternoon.”

His greeting was soft, seemingly simple and understated compared to Natori’s, but Ren Tsuruga and Shuuichi Natori were always two men of contrasting styles. Each displayed their own charm, and in terms of allure, neither outshone the other—a fact made evident by the girl’s blissful, dreamy expression.

But while she was utterly delighted, the two men in the car felt far less pleased.

“Hey, Ran!”

Kogoro Mouri, disgruntled, tugged at his daughter’s arm.

He simply couldn’t understand why his girl was so enthralled by these two young men—

The “Detective” himself claimed he had no interest in male celebrities, but these two had both acted alongside his beloved Yoko Okino! And not only that, they’d received endless praise from her both during and after filming. As a diehard Yoko fan, he couldn’t help but know who they were.

Even more perplexing, his daughter, who had never been a fan before, had, after being dragged to a few movies by her friend Sonoko Suzuki, swiftly become a fan of these two. While it was amusing to see the Kudo kid suffer because of it, for Mouri, this was still…

He shot a hostile glare at the two striking young men, then turned to his daughter, still lost in her own bliss:

“Ran…”

“It’s no use, Uncle.”

Before he could finish, a somewhat eerie voice sounded from behind him.

“Whenever Sister Ran gets like this, she’s not easily roused. Besides, before she only saw them in pictures, but now…”

She’s seeing them in person!

The bespectacled boy poked his head out from the back seat.

“And you two—”

—Are you headed to the Nanao Inn?

His question, delivered with an innocent smile, was abruptly cut off, the smile freezing at his lips.

“Heh… How coincidental, it’s you after all.”

Facing the nearby red-haired fox’s meaningful gaze, memories of a particularly awkward encounter rushed back to the boy. He forced a dry laugh, unsure whether to continue the conversation or retreat.

Kurama, watching the boy’s discomfort, couldn’t help but curve his lips in silent amusement.

But instead of doing anything to warrant the boy’s wariness, he turned and beamed at his companions:

“Everyone, I don’t think now is the time for chatting or reminiscing. How about… we get to know each other properly once we reach the inn?”

Right as he finished, several stomachs grumbled in unison…

Everyone exchanged glances, then burst into laughter.

“All right, Kurama, we’ll follow your lead.”

Natori laughed, gesturing politely to Kogoro in the car:

“The inn is just ahead. If you don’t mind, please go ahead, Detective Mouri.”

Kogoro, keeping up his stern fatherly act, nodded stiffly:

“Very well, we’ll go on ahead.”

With that, their car slowly passed Kurama and the others.

Once the car vanished around the bend toward the inn, Natori, whose expression had been odd since earlier, sighed softly.

“This is going to be troublesome.”

He turned to Kurama, Natsume, and Ren Tsuruga with a wry smile.

＊＊＊

The inn seemed close, yet it took Kurama and the others more than ten minutes to walk the stretch. After registering and getting their keys with the landlady’s help, they were just heading to their rooms to drop off their luggage when they saw Kogoro's group already changed into yukata, apparently ready for dinner.

As they passed each other in the hallway, Natori and Kogoro nodded in greeting, and the two celebrities each gave Ran, whose cheeks were still pink though not as dramatically as before, a gentle smile.

Noticing the girl's eyes brighten instantly, and the Kudo boy beside her looking frustrated and helpless, Kurama decided not to tease the little detective who kept dodging his gaze—after all, there would be plenty of opportunities later.

Leisurely following Natori to their reserved room, they opened the door to find an orange-haired girl kneeling nervously at the low table. Though she was alone in the room, she sat upright, as if following some ritual. Seeing them enter, she hurriedly rose and bowed:

“Ren-senpai! Natori-senpai!”

Normally reserved during their travels, Ren Tsuruga now revealed a different side.

“I told you to rest while waiting for us. Why are you up again?”

He walked quickly to her side, concern evident on his face though he didn’t reach out to help.

Her cheeks flushed, but determination soon replaced her embarrassment.

“Ren-senpai, please take me home immediately!”

She stepped back, voice firm, bowing deeply to Ren.

The Demon King’s expression darkened instantly.

“Why are you still saying this…”

“Please take me home!”

She interrupted him loudly, refusing to let him speak. “It’s my own fault, I brought this curse upon myself! I’m grateful for your help, but… I don’t want to drag anyone else down anymore! Especially…”

Especially those who mean so much to me.

She bit her lip, unable to say the rest, turning her head stubbornly.

“Mr. Shima has a fever and I sent him to the hospital. He was fine before bringing me here, but after just a brief contact, he…”

“So please, Ren-senpai, I beg you… take me home.”

Her small shoulders trembled painfully, her voice soft.

“I’ll be fine. I could suppress them before, I still can now…”

“That’s not acceptable, Kyoko.”

Seeing his friend’s expression grow ever darker, Natori quickly stepped between Kyoko and Ren.

“Ren must have rushed here and didn’t explain properly, right? The curse on you isn’t the main issue—the problem is…”

Something else attracted by it.

Knowing such words would only make Kyoko blame herself more, Natori softened his tone further and gently ruffled her hair:

“It’s something else clinging to you, not your fault. Ren brought you here to solve this. If you leave now without driving it away, what will you do? Silly girl.”

Kyoko’s shoulders slowly relaxed at Natori’s gentle words.

“But…”

She still hesitated, glancing anxiously at the black-haired youth behind Natori, her concealed worry clear. Natori understood immediately.

“Don’t worry, Ren will be fine.” He smiled. “We have unexpected super support on our side.”

He turned, directing Kyoko’s gaze to Kurama and Natsume:

“See, those two are my friends—Takashi Natsume and Kurama. Originally, I could handle this myself, but you know how much Ren cares about you. So I shamelessly dragged him along to ask for help.”

He spoke as if unaware that his “careless” comment made the girl blush as if set aflame, then continued with a smile:

“So stop worrying. After lunch, we’ll address your problem.”

Kyoko was finally persuaded.

She lowered her eyes, nodding obediently. When she glimpsed the relief on Ren’s face, she quickly looked away again.

She didn’t see Natori, upon noticing her reaction, turn and wink meaningfully at Ren…

＊＊＊

Since Kurama and the others arrived late, Kyoko had already eaten lunch alone.

So after dropping their bags and greeting her, the four set out for the inn’s restaurant, planning to have a light meal there before enjoying a proper hot spring feast that evening.

Because Ren and Kyoko’s argument had delayed them further, by the time they entered the restaurant, Kogoro, Ran, and Conan were finishing their meal.

After another round of nods, Kurama’s group collected their plates and searched for dishes they liked.

Once settled at a table, despite the inn’s apparent reputation, perhaps because of the odd timing, there were surprisingly few guests—aside from Kurama and Kogoro’s groups, only two or three other tables were occupied, and those guests seemed to know each other.

—It must be said, the emptiness felt oddly unsettling.

But since most of Kurama’s group were preoccupied with the upcoming exorcism for Kyoko, only Kurama seemed to notice.

He didn’t ask further, instead focusing on his three adorable companions.

With others present, Kurama had placed an invisibility barrier around the two snow rabbit shikigami, though they seemed quite used to it, currently relaxing with Mokona, chirping about which food looked tastiest.

Their attitude toward Mokona amused Kurama; in human form, they doted on the little one, and in rabbit form, they joined him in all sorts of cute antics.

It really was…

Hard to describe.

Smiling wryly, the fox quietly drank his soup, pretending not to see the three small ones crowd together, giggling and playing.

Meanwhile, Kogoro’s group seemed finished eating and were about to leave when lively voices echoed from the restaurant entrance.

Soon, hurried footsteps approached and the doors burst open. A group of boys, all dressed in earthy yellow tracksuits, strode in brimming with energy…

Author’s note: So, the mustached uncle really is Kogoro Mouri. Congratulations to those who guessed it!

Now the landlady will probably have a headache—Conan’s unlucky aura…

New characters entering! =w=

You’ve probably figured out who they are, right? Honestly, I mean no harm to them…

Kyoko is a good girl! I truly like her! Demon King and Kyoko finally ending up together… 2333

Next chapter preview: “The Fox Kurama—Events and Monsters.” Who are the newly arrived boys? Will they get drawn into the incident? Can Kyoko’s curse be lifted? Will there really be a murder at the inn? Will Kurama and the others be implicated? Stay tuned for the next chapter: “The Fox Kurama—Events and Monsters.”

P.S. Thanks to Mingchen and Baizui for the thrown thunderbolts! Hugs! =3= Rolling onward, still asking for collections =w= I’m very well-behaved and easy to keep fed→