About ten minutes later, the group finished dinner.
The time reached eight or nine in the evening.
Miyano Akemi was responsible for cleaning up and washing the dishes.
Fujino gathered the large and small bags from earlier, planning to take Ai Haibara home.
Inside the bathroom.
Ai Haibara changed out of the pajamas.
She put on a clean short-sleeved shirt, a gray sports jacket, and gray-black sports pants.
After changing, Ai Haibara glanced at the discarded panda pajamas.
Pausing, she folded the pajamas neatly, placed them in a shopping bag, and carried it out of the bathroom.
It wasn't because they were cute, purely because they were comfortable!
"Have a safe trip!"
Before they left, Miyano Akemi, still washing dishes in the kitchen, waved at the two.
Ai Haibara instinctively turned back, wanting to say something, but hesitated and ultimately said nothing.
Although Fujino Akemi did bear a resemblance to her sister.
But she knew that was someone else's sister, not hers.
If she hadn't gotten involved with that organization...
Would her life be like this now?
Inexplicably, a hint of envy appeared in her gaze as she looked at Fujino.
A short while later, Fujino parked the Ford Taurus in front of the Kudo residence gate.
"This is where you're staying temporarily?"
Fujino pushed open the car door, glancing at the villa before him.
The dark villa was exceptionally quiet in the night.
No lights were on inside, appearing uninhabited.
"..."
Ai Haibara got out of the passenger seat, also looked at the villa, and frowned.
As fellow shrinkers, her initial impulse was to seek refuge with Kudo Shinichi.
But she almost forgot, that guy Kudo Shinichi hadn't lived in this villa since shrinking.
Now this was troublesome...
As Ai Haibara pondered, Fujino suddenly added,
"I didn't expect you to be related to that guy."
"You... you know him?"
Ai Haibara turned, looking at Fujino in surprise.
Damn it, her lie accidentally involved someone that guy Kudo Shinichi knew.
Awkward...
"Can't really say I know him."
Just as Ai Haibara was brainstorming a plausible explanation, Fujino clarified,
"We're classmates. He seems to have been missing for a long time... Speaking of which, I'm just like him, a high school detective."
"Classmates? High school detective?"
Ai Haibara looked puzzled upon hearing this. "Are you really a high school student?"
"Yeah, I'm just an eighteen-year-old high school student. Don't I look like one?"
Ai Haibara: "..."
This guy was actually her age...
Well, she wouldn't have guessed if he hadn't said so.
After all, his aura and appearance were far too mature.
This guy was eighteen?
Without him saying, she would have thought he was over twenty, close to the age of that 'Akemi-nee' she met earlier.
"You two,"
Just then, an elderly voice sounded from behind.
Fujino turned to see a chubby old man with white hair and a receding hairline peering out from the gate. "Are you here looking for Shinichi?"
The old man wore a white lab coat, his shirt stretched taut over his round belly.
Fujino recognized this old man.
It was none other than Dr. Agasa Hiroshi.
Wait, this seemed to be his first time meeting Dr. Agasa, right?
"You must be Dr. Agasa?"
Fujino walked over and greeted him.
"You know me?"
Dr. Agasa looked somewhat surprised.
"I've heard about you from Ran and Conan."
"Oh! So you're Fujino Douji!"
Dr. Agasa, after a moment's thought, recalled the name Fujino Douji.
Hmm, Conan often mentioned this name with high frequency when he came over to vent.
"By the way."
Fujino suddenly turned and took Ai Haibara's hand. "I heard this child is related to that kid Kudo Shinichi, but the Kudo house seems empty."
"Kudo's relative?"
Dr. Agasa looked puzzled.
He only knew the Kudo family; he hadn't heard anything about their relatives.
Under Dr. Agasa's confused gaze, Ai Haibara pulled her hand free from Fujino's grasp, walked to his side, and whispered, "You should know... that Kudo Shinichi guy took that drug, right?"
From the clues she possessed, it was highly probable that Kudo Shinichi would return home first after shrinking.
And having no other relatives here, he would most likely seek refuge with this old man.
She was gambling, gambling on whether Dr. Agasa knew about Kudo Shinichi shrinking.
If he didn't know... it didn't matter. She was a child now; she could just play it off as childish nonsense later.
"Drug?!"
Dr. Agasa's expression changed instantly upon hearing this.
How did this child know about this... Could it be...
"You really do know about it, don't you?"
Seeing the look on Dr. Agasa's face, a sly smile spread across Ai Haibara's doll-like features.
She had gambled correctly; this Dr. Agasa definitely knew about Kudo Shinichi shrinking.
"Who exactly are..."
But before Dr. Agasa could finish, Ai Haibara suddenly spoke loudly, as if intentionally letting Fujino hear, "Oh, it's Dr. Agasa... Speaking of which, we're relatives too. Since that's the case, I'll come over to your place for a bit... You should be happy to chat with me about where the Kudo family members have gone recently, right?"
Hearing this, Dr. Agasa's face changed dramatically.
"Dr. Agasa, you're related to this child too?"
Just then, Fujino, who had been watching the old man and the little girl's secretive conversation from nearby, suddenly asked, his tone carrying a hint of amusement.
"Ah... yes."
Dr. Agasa glanced at Ai Haibara, thought for a moment, then scratched the back of his head. "That's right, this child and I are indeed somewhat related..."
"Isn't this child related to the Kudo family?"
Fujino continued, feigning confusion.
"Ah... well..."
Dr. Agasa suddenly started stammering.
"The Kudo family, our family, and Dr. Agasa's family are all relatives."
Ai Haibara interjected suddenly.
"That's right!"
Dr. Agasa nodded in agreement. "Actually, our family and the Kudo family are also related..."
"I see... what a tangled web."
Fujino nodded, not paying too much mind.
He then turned, opened the trunk, took out the clothes he bought earlier, and handed them to Dr. Agasa.
"By the way, this child's clothes... and the medical expenses, could I trouble you to settle the bill, Dr. Agasa?"
Before leaving, Fujino pulled out a bill and handed it to Dr. Agasa. "The total is one hundred sixty thousand yen."
"One hundred sixty thousand yen?"
Dr. Agasa was stunned.
Taking the bill, he glanced at the detailed charges listed and was momentarily speechless.
First being threatened into becoming the guardian of a strange little girl, and now having to settle her bills...
Ultimately, after receiving the payment of one hundred sixty thousand yen, Fujino drove the Ford Taurus back home.
Meanwhile, Ai Haibara watched the departing car's taillights, her eyes filled with complex thoughts.
Although he carried her home from the rain against her will, it was indeed for her own good.
After all, given her condition at the time, without help,
the worst outcome would have been collapsing unconscious in the rain, being found by the Organization, and executed.
Honestly, when she first encountered that guy Fujino, she really thought he was a creepy uncle with a strange fondness for little girls.
Although the suspicion of him being a lolicon lingered, after some observation, she realized that Fujino Douji... was actually a good person.