"By the way, Ran,"
Fujino asked as Ran settled into the passenger seat,
"do you actually know where Sonoko's villa is?"
Fujino himself had no clue.
Perhaps in her excitement, Sonoko had forgotten to give him the map or directions before the end of school yesterday.
Ran was his only hope now.
"Actually,"
Ran admitted with a slightly sheepish laugh,
"I've never been to their forest villa either."
"But Sonoko gave me a map! Finding it shouldn't be too hard, right?"
She pulled a folded map from her small bag and began studying it intently.
"Uh oh."
Watching Ran squint at the map, Fujino felt a familiar twitch in his eye.
He distinctly remembered Ran having absolutely zero sense of direction...
Meanwhile, unnoticed by either of them, a small, dark figure darted out from the alley beside the Mouri Agency like a large rat and quickly slipped into the trunk of the Ford Taurus.
Despite the destination supposedly not being too far, the drive, under Ran's navigational 'guidance', turned into quite an odyssey.
They even had to stop for gas along the way before finally arriving at the Suzuki mountain villa.
The villa stood dramatically perched on a cliff edge, forest behind it, a sheer drop in front.
Built entirely of wood, likely sourced locally, the four-story structure boasted a distinct Northern European architectural style.
As for the furniture inside... how anyone managed to transport furnishings up here, into this remote mountain forest inaccessible by normal trucks, was a mystery only the ridiculously wealthy could solve.
"I really don't understand rich people,"
Fujino muttered, standing before the villa and gazing across the chasm at the building.
"Building a villa in such a creepy place... Aren't they worried about attracting... things?"
Seriously, the whims of the wealthy were baffling. Always coming up with bizarre, expensive ideas just because they could.
"'Things'?"
Ran tilted her head, her curiosity piqued.
She turned, then gasped, pointing towards the wooden suspension bridge connecting the cliffs.
"Fujino-senpai, look! I think there's someone over there!"
Fujino followed her pointing finger.
Sure enough, a dark figure was slowly walking across the wooden bridge.
The person wore a long black robe and a wide-brimmed, tulip-shaped black hat, looking decidedly suspicious.
"Is that person going to the villa too?"
Just as Ran spoke, the figure turned its head.
A face completely covered in bandages stared back at them for a brief moment.
Then, the figure quickened its pace, rushing across the bridge and disappearing into the villa.
"Where did that person come from?!"
Ran looked spooked.
"I swear they weren't there a second ago..."
"Probably because of the bridge's curvature,"
Fujino explained, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Curvature?"
"When we were further back, if he was crouching in the middle of the bridge, the cliff edge would have blocked our line of sight."
"Then, as we got closer, he suddenly stood up, creating the illusion of appearing out of nowhere."
"It's actually a common trick used in movies."
"Oh, I see!"
Ran nodded rapidly, relieved. She patted her chest.
"For a second, I thought we'd actually seen a ghost!"
"Thump!"
A muffled sound came from behind them.
Ran jumped, startled again.
They turned around to see Conan tumbling out of the trunk of the Taurus, landing face-first in the dirt.
"Conan-kun?!"
Ran stared, astonished, as Conan picked himself up, covered in dust.
"What are you doing here?!"
"Hahaha,"
Conan scrambled up, brushing himself off, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
"Well, I wanted to come play at Sonoko-neechan's villa too, so..."
"So you crawled into the trunk and snuck along,"
Fujino finished, turning around, equally exasperated.
He hadn't even noticed the kid stow away.
Seriously, does this kid have experience sneaking into car trunks? First trunks, next landing gear? Is he part mouse? Crawling into everything...
"Conan-kun, you can't do that!"
Ran walked over, brushing the dust off Conan's back before gently scolding him.
"Hiding in someone's trunk is really impolite... And it's very dangerous!"
"Sorry, Ran-neechan..."
Conan put on his most pitiful expression, looking like a scolded puppy.
Simultaneously, he shot a wary glance at Fujino, his eyes radiating suspicion and territoriality, like a husky whose food bowl had just been threatened.
That jerk Fujino! Bringing Ran all the way out here to a secluded mountain villa! Just wait until I'm Kudo Shinichi again! You'll pay for this!
Conan clenched his small fists tightly.
"Alright, Ran, it's getting late,"
Fujino interrupted, glancing at Conan's faux-innocent expression.
"If we're late, Sonoko will never let us hear the end of it."
"Since Conan-kun went to the trouble of sneaking here, might as well bring him along."
"Sorry for the trouble,"
Ran sighed.
"I don't know what's gotten into Conan-kun lately; he's always acting up around you, Fujino-senpai."
"Maybe he just feels close to me,"
Fujino smirked, looking pointedly at Conan.
"Isn't that right, Conan-kun?"
Conan shivered involuntarily.
Seeing Fujino's creepy smile, he could almost swear the lenses of his glasses flashed with an eerie white light.
"Hahaha,"
Conan forced a laugh, nodding enthusiastically, his voice high-pitched and unnatural.
"That's right! I really, really like Fujino-oniichan!"
"See? This is why I say adolescent mental health education is crucial,"
Fujino leaned closer to Ran, whispering conspiratorially.
"Especially for gifted children abandoned by their parents, left to fend for themselves like this."
"He's already sneaking into car trunks to follow people. What's next?"
His voice grew serious.
"A severely problematic child like Conan needs strict supervision."
"Otherwise, as he grows up, these issues could twist into something much worse."
"He could end up becoming some kind of deviant menace to society..."
"A deviant menace to society..."
Ran swallowed hard, looking thoughtfully at Conan.
Recalling his various strange behaviors lately, she nodded slowly in agreement with Fujino.