April 12, 7:30 p.m.
A large crowd had gathered in front of the street where the Suzuki Museum was located, and numerous helicopters hovered around the museum in the sky.
"You can see that the sky is now filled with helicopters, and there are countless guards deployed throughout the surrounding area!"
"These are said to be the elite forces assembled by the Suzuki Group, who have staked their reputation on this!"
"Under such tight security, will Kaito Kid really come as promised!?"
The reporter standing in front of the cordon spoke passionately to the camera.
On the rooftop of a building adjacent to the museum, Suzuki Sonoko and the others had already taken their seats in the specially prepared "audience section."
"Kaito Kid appeared near the rooftop of this building yesterday. Right now, only security personnel are allowed to enter this area."
Kogoro Mouri looked a little uncomfortable, glancing at the row of highly alert bodyguards nearby.
Kaito Kid had shown up last night.
He had stated in a previous notice that he would survey the museum's layout the night before the heist, but instead, he had performed a high-profile magic trick — a high-altitude walk.
Kaito Kid had boldly walked across the air between two buildings in front of the crowd. No one could see what mechanism he used — he simply walked to the front of the museum in such an unbelievable way, then vanished.
Conan pinched his chin, deep in thought.
At that moment, a bodyguard approached Sonoko and whispered something in her ear. Sonoko immediately nodded and turned around with an excited look.
"Brother Yoshiki is coming!"
"Ah, if Brother Yoshiki is here, he'll surely see through Kaito Kid's tricks in no time!"
Ran's face lit up with anticipation.
Conan immediately felt a pang of jealousy, but Kogoro Mouri, who usually refused to admit defeat, remained silent — Hayashi Yoshiki's office had handed him so many commissions lately that he felt he couldn't possibly repay the favor.
Hayashi Yoshiki quickly took the elevator to the rooftop.
But surprisingly, a girl was following him.
She was about the same age as Ran and the others, with long burgundy hair that shone brightly even in the dark. As she stepped onto the rooftop with Hayashi Yoshiki, she showed no nervousness about the surrounding scene — instead, her expression was one of interest.
"I see. These are some pretty nice audience seats."
"Brother Yoshiki, who is she?" Sonoko stood up in surprise.
Hayashi Yoshiki gave a helpless smile. "Just someone troublesome I happened to meet on the way here."
"Haha, you're such a liar—" Akako Koizumi laughed cheerfully. "You must be really excited to meet me tonight, right?"
"No. I think you're annoying."
Hayashi Yoshiki said this bluntly, but Akako Koizumi just smiled, completely unfazed.
—Because Hayashi Yoshiki is always polite to everyone, always smiling. But he's so blunt only with me… Is he really trying to suppress his feelings for me?
Heh, what a strange man.
"My name is Akako Koizumi.As you can see, I am the woman that Hayashi Yoshiki likes~"
"What!?"
When Akako Koizumi said this, everyone on the rooftop was shocked.
The cup in Kogoro Mouri's hand trembled and almost slipped to the ground. Like Conan, he stared intently at Akako Koizumi, scrutinizing her carefully… She was indeed a very beautiful girl, and for some reason, just looking at her gave people an inexplicable sense of enchantment.
Sonoko became a little anxious.
Even though she had always felt that Brother Yoshiki was too difficult for her and likely out of reach, watching someone else pluck the flower of Gaoling(Author:高岭花 -A flower on a high mountain, something of Chinese.) still brought a twinge of heartbreak to those who had high hopes.
Ran's mouth also dropped open in surprise.
She couldn't help but think about the two times Yoshiki had tried to kiss her — her emotions were now impossible to untangle.
"Don't talk nonsense. You're seriously annoying me."
Hayashi Yoshiki firmly refuted her, adding, "I don't like you, Koizumi-san."
As he said this, his gaze seemed to glance at Ran unintentionally.
Their eyes met briefly — then he immediately looked away.
Why is Brother Yoshiki looking at me at a time like this?
Ran's face blushed slightly. She lowered her head, suddenly feeling too shy to think further.
Akako Koizumi snorted. "Tsk! This man is really stubborn."
Sonoko smiled and sat down, looking at her best friend as if relieved. "See? I told you! I can't imagine Yoshiki actually liking a girl and showing his feelings."
"Yeah, yeah…" Ran replied, but Sonoko didn't seem to notice her friend's subtle reaction. In a good mood, she immediately asked the bodyguard to bring another chair.
Akako Koizumi confidently took a seat.
As the heiress of the Red Magic family, she was no less dignified than any other wealthy figure.
"Hello, Koizumi-san." Ran greeted her kindly.
"Ah, hello."
"You're about our age. You're not from Teitan High, are you?" Sonoko asked, then looked at Hayashi Yoshiki. "How do you know Brother Yoshiki?"
"I'm from Ekoda High School. As for why I know Hayashi Yoshiki — it's because this man came to me for divination."
"Divination?"
Both girls blinked in surprise, and even Kogoro Mouri and Conan found this strange.
"So Brother Yoshiki is actually interested in fortune-telling~" Sonoko teased with a knowing smile.
"Don't underestimate her. She's quite famous in Ekoda City — they call her the 'elusive fortune-teller.'"
Hayashi Yoshiki explained, and Sonoko's reaction was particularly strong.
"Really?"
"Really."
She nearly slammed the table in excitement. "Is she really the mysterious fortune-teller from the next city?!"
"What's that?" Ran looked a little confused.
"She's a fortune-teller I've occasionally seen on the forums — an urban legend! They say her predictions are frighteningly accurate!"
Sonoko was thrilled, but as she looked at Akako Koizumi's beautiful face, her excitement was suddenly dampened like a bucket of cold water had been poured over her.
"…But I still don't know if that's true."
Fortune-tellers are supposed to look the part.
But Koizumi Akako didn't exude any mysterious aura at all. Looking at her youthful, beautiful face, it just seemed too unbelievable to claim she was a fortune-teller.
And if she really was one, why couldn't she predict that Yoshiki didn't like her?
Noticing Sonoko's skeptical gaze, Akako Koizumi snorted.
As the others asked curiously, "Where did you hear about her?" she confidently placed her crystal ball on the table and declared proudly:
"In that case, let me show you!"