GOAL BONUS CHAPTER #10
Dr. Agasa was startled.
After spending so much time around Haibara Ai, he had started to sense the darker, scheming side to her personality.
Now, with her sudden request, the doctor immediately felt that Conan was about to be in some serious trouble.
However, he didn't think for a second that Haibara Ai was planning to kill Conan—if that were the case, it would've happened a long time ago. In fact, if Haibara Ai had not kept the truth that "Kudou Shinichi is still alive" from the organization, Conan would have been dead by now.
With this in mind, Dr. Agasa nodded to himself and immediately decided to throw his neighbor under the bus. Sure, Shinichi might be tricked by Ai, but after all, she'd saved his life. And besides, Ai-chan was so cute and sensible, and she was a whiz in the kitchen, so she'd definitely be careful.
Haibara Ai, feeling a bit better after getting the doctor to agree with her plan, relaxed a bit.
Her sudden dash to Jiang Xia's house earlier was suspicious, and while Dr. Agasa had been completely duped, if he and Kudo Shinichi ever discussed it, there was the risk that Shinichi—being a famous detective and all—might start piecing things together. He could easily deduce that "Jiang Xia knows a scientist who defected from the organization."
That would go against Jiang Xia's goal of keeping his connection to the organization a secret.
So now, Haibara Ai suggested contacting Conan herself, which would give her the chance to avoid any awkward questions. When Dr. Agasa talked to Conan, she would make sure to keep things about her under wraps, especially anything related to Jianxia's connection to the organisation.
Based on her observations, she figured that the doctor's memory was about as reliable as a sieve. In a few days, he'd probably forget all about it.
With a new goal to "cover Jiang Xia's back," Haibara Ai felt a surge of energy and determination.
At the same time, at Jiang Xia's place:
Jiang Xia placed the rice from his lunchbox onto a plate and began to eat.
After a few bites, he noticed something strange on the table.
Jiang Xia looked up and saw Miyano Akemi standing next to his plate, staring at his food while nervously nibbling her fingers.
Jiang Xia: "…"
"What are you staring at? You can't eat it."
He continued eating in peace.
Soon, two more ghosts appeared by the plate.
The ghost babies were quick to pick up on Miyano Akemi's hungry expression, so they sidled up to her and began eyeing the food as well.
It was honestly a mystery where Haibara Ai, the lab-nerd, had learned to cook like this. Her dishes were bursting with flavor and aroma. The two other ghosts, just like Miyano Akemi, couldn't seem to tear themselves away from the food.
Jiang Xia: "…"
As the saying goes, three people make a crowd, and Jiang Xia found himself surrounded by three ghosts, all staring at him as he ate. His pace slowed.
Finally, after a long moment of being watched, Jiang Xia hesitated and said, "How about I try cooking for you next time?"
This wasn't exactly part of the "ghost management" protocol he'd heard of, but he'd seen Taoist priests in movies burn stuff for ghosts. He figured stories had to come from somewhere.
After mulling it over, Jiang Xia found the idea strangely appealing. If it worked, maybe he could save some energy and rely on "ghost food" to raise these spirits in the future. After all, he had a few hundred million on his card...
With that thought in mind, Jiang Xia pulled out some food from his plate, grabbed a few incense sticks from the cabinet, and—lacking proper ghostly yellow paper—used some newspapers instead.
He wrapped the food in the paper, jotted down the ghosts' "names" on it, and added a little "ghost mint" (with little murderous energy). After lighting the incense, he set the package of food on fire.
Five minutes later...
The food wrapped in newspaper crackled and sizzled into a charred mass, glowing oddly as strange patterns appeared on the burning paper. The ghosts stared at the scene in disbelief.
Jiang Xia: "…"
He waved away the smoke, looked at the ghosts, and asked hesitantly, "So… do you feel full? Half-full is fine."
Xiaobai and Tengu: "…" Honestly, it's making us feel a bit nauseous. And we're not sure it's from the food...
Miyano Akemi collapsed to the table, looking at the burnt dish with an expression of utter despair: "QAQQQQ."
"Ugh..." Jiang Xia watched as she cried more and more. He quickly interrupted her before she turned into a full-blown ghost.
He grabbed a chopstick and carefully picked up a small piece of the "tribute" he'd prepared. Turning to the three ghosts, he said, "Actually, some things might not smell great, but they taste amazing. You know, practice makes perfect..."
Xiaobai, terrified, shuffled behind Tengu, pulling the ghost's wings to hide himself.
Tengu didn't hide. Instead, he meekly suggested, "Well, if you really want to try it, I guess I could taste it on your behalf…" With that, Tengu reluctantly plucked one of his own feathers, dipped it in Miyano Akemi's tears, and began writing a sad suicide note on the ground, trembling.
Jiang Xia sighed.
He didn't want to torture his ghosts, but after going through all this trouble, he felt like he had to at least test the results to see if the experiment worked.
But given the ghosts' resistance, there had to be something wrong with this "tribute." After all, ghosts have instincts just like people—just like some people will immediately toss away their food if it's got centipedes in it…
As Jiang Xia was about to clean up, he noticed Miyano Akemi floating beside him. She took a deep breath, and, before he could react, bit the tip of his chopsticks and swallowed the "dish" with tears in her eyes.
Jiang Xia: "..." How much do you want to eat, sis?
The "tribute" quickly spread through her like ink in water, dissolving into her.
Miyano Akemi's eyes swirled with spirals, and she staggered a few steps before collapsing onto the floor.
Although ghosts couldn't physically touch material things, and couldn't eat regular food, the "ghost mint" Jiang Xia had added to the tribute had effectively turned it into "ghost food."
Jiang Xia checked Miyano Akemi's pulse to ensure she wasn't in danger. Fortunately, she was fine and didn't need any resuscitation.
In fact, although she kept clutching her throat and gagging after eating the "dish," she seemed a little more energetic than before.
…It worked, sort of.
Jiang Xia wasn't sure if this "ghost food" worked for all ghosts or just Miyano Akemi, but if it worked for all of them, then human food combined with ghost mint might actually be better than murderous energy…
He needed to figure that out as soon as possible.
As he thought this, Jiang Xia picked up another piece of the "tribute" and turned toward Tengu and Xiaobai.
The two ghosts, who thought they had escaped, gasped in terror.
"...!!"
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 3/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:0/10*
Glossary:
Wutengu: Name(sort of) of Jianxia's third ghost acquired from the Buddhist Temple.