Edogawa Secret Love Handbook - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After spending a pleasant evening with her baby’s guardian, Qianzi arrived at school the next day in high spirits.

“Good morning, Conan!”

This was her third baby!

It seemed to be a new addition because the protagonist’s two identities had merged into one.

Qianzi needed to complete a series of tasks assigned by the system to earn system currency, which could be exchanged for high-performance medicines, clothing with special abilities, firearms, maps, and other items.

There were even things like growth potions, limited-time undead summoning, and other intriguing items she wasn’t sure when she’d ever use.

But they were also very expensive. Given her current habit of working on tasks sporadically—three days of effort followed by two days of slacking—it would probably take ages to save up enough.

The elementary school detective, greeted by her energetic voice, sat at his desk and let out a long yawn, looking completely exhausted. “…Morning.”

Conan propped his chin on his hand, his eyes half-lidded as he greeted her weakly. “You’re here early today.”

Suddenly, he noticed something off. He opened his eyes fully and gave her a once-over, quickly spotting the differences in her appearance today.

Normally, if she got ready and left the house on her own, she’d always rush to school in a hurry, barely having time for breakfast—resorting to snacks like crackers or bread during breaks. Her clothes were always haphazardly pulled from the closet, her socks never matched properly, and her hair was a mess.

But today, her slightly wavy black bob was neatly styled, held back by a yellow hair clip to keep it out of her eyes. The weather was a bit chilly, so she wore a jacket, its cuffs neatly rolled up.

She looked much more put-together than usual.

“Did your guardian come back?”

Conan mentally cursed his luck.

If he had known Qianzi’s guardian would return yesterday, he would’ve followed her no matter what.

Because of Shiho’s unusual reaction to Qianzi.

When they first met, Shiho had sensed a dark aura around Qianzi. But no matter how much they observed or probed, they couldn’t find any connection between her and the Black Organization.

After thorough investigation, they became even more convinced she was just an ordinary first-grader.

After all, no adult would roll around on the ground in excitement over getting all their single-digit addition and subtraction problems right.

So, they could only assume that someone around Qianzi was connected to the Black Organization—starting with her parents.

However, Qianzi claimed she had never met her parents and only had a guardian, who rarely came home. No matter how they tried to subtly or directly pry, Qianzi showed no reaction to mentions of the Black Organization or “the drug,” leaving their investigation at a standstill.

“Will he be home all day today?” Conan asked urgently, then quickly covered it up. “I mean, I’ve never met any of Qianzi’s family before.”

Ugh, if only he had followed her yesterday! Any excuse would’ve worked—Qianzi wouldn’t have suspected a thing.

“Today? Not sure.”

Knowing that Amuro Tooru had a special identity, Qianzi had long grown accustomed to his unpredictable comings and goings.

“Is that so.”

Conan didn’t press further, but he had already made up his mind—after school today, whether or not that guardian was home, he would follow up and investigate.

Who knows? He might just uncover some clues.

“Look at my new hair clip! Isn’t it cute?” Qianzi leaned in so close her face was almost touching his.

Conan pushed her back by the shoulders, his face flushing from the overwhelming strawberry toothpaste scent wafting from her.

This girl had absolutely no sense of personal space…

But Conan was used to it by now.

“It’s cute.”

Though he couldn’t for the life of him see what made this yellow sunflower clip better than yesterday’s bird-shaped one, he had learned to play along—even offering a plausible reason: “This sunflower suits you.”

It was just a throwaway line to humor a child, but once he said it, he realized it actually made sense.

Because it really did suit her.

Qianzi was like a little ball of energy—a lively lion cub, or a sunflower blooming under the sun. She was always bursting with vitality, to the point where sometimes, even after returning to the Mouri Detective Agency, Conan could still hear her chattering voice and the sound of her running footsteps echoing in his ears.

It was downright dizzying.

Pleased by the compliment, Qianzi happily hummed a tune as she plopped back into her seat and pulled out her textbook—though she never actually read it.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, she whipped her head back around.

Her bright, honey-colored eyes blinked up at him, softening his heart instantly. “Hey, Conan, wanna play soccer after school?”

Qianzi loved playing soccer with Conan—partly because of the mission system. Every time they played for half an hour, she earned one system coin as part of her daily tasks.

The daily mission cap was three coins, and the tasks were always simple, revolving around her three “kids.”

Things like playing soccer with Conan, calling Gin to make sure he checked in safely, or ensuring Amuro got at least six hours of sleep—all randomly refreshed each day.

But even if soccer with Conan wasn’t a mission that day, she still wanted to play.

Kids didn’t have many entertainment options, after all. School ended before 3 PM—what else was there to do besides soccer?

Conan, who had already played soccer with her for fourteen straight days, reluctantly tore his gaze away.

He had no idea why, but whenever he met her eyes, he found it impossible to refuse her.

“No,” he said, then immediately softened his tone, realizing how harsh it sounded. “We should take a break today.”

How did she have so much energy every single day?

“Okay…” Qianzi pouted, withdrawing with visible disappointment.

Sure, Mitsuhiko and the others were always happy to play with her, but when it came to skill, Conan was undeniably the best.

Hearing that simple “okay,” Conan felt an unexpected pang of guilt.

…She was just a kid. Being energetic and playful was natural for her. Inviting him to play was just her way of wanting to spend time together.

“Fine,” he conceded once again. “We’ll play after school.”

Qianzi, who had been thinking about when she could eat the chocolate cookies that Amuro Tooru had packed for her, took a full two seconds to process what Conan was saying.

“Awesome!”

Though she didn’t know why Conan had changed his mind, getting to play soccer was always a good thing.

Watching her cheerful figure skip ahead, Conan sighed yet again.

Why couldn’t he ever refuse her?

After school, they played soccer with a few kids for a while before Conan eagerly urged the Detective Boys to head home. Eventually, only he, Haibara, and Qianzi remained.

Qianzi didn’t quite understand why Conan had suddenly decided to walk her home.

Hadn’t they always just gone their separate ways before?

But if a friend wanted to visit, of course she was happy to welcome them.

Haibara walked quietly beside them, listening as the girl enthusiastically pointed out everything from the largest cherry blossom tree to the cat she met every morning on her way to school.

“Dr. Taisuke is a very particular cat—he doesn’t like fish but loves pork floss bread instead.”

Here, she sighed regretfully. “But he’s still a cat, so he can’t eat too much of it.”

Along the way, countless people greeted her—an elderly woman out for a stroll, a young mother pushing a stroller, a shop clerk selling accessories…

Conan couldn’t help but marvel at how well-liked she was.

She had only moved to Beika Town six months ago, yet she already knew more people than he did, despite having lived here for sixteen years.

Haibara turned her head slightly, feeling almost blinded by the girl’s radiant presence.

She had never been good at handling people who were this sunny.

“Oh! I ran into Ran-neechan and Sonoko-neechan the other day,” Qianzi suddenly remembered. “They invited me to join the opening performance at Sonoko-neechan’s family’s amusement park, but we forgot to set a time. Conan, could you ask them about it when you get home?”

Conan lamented the fact that, despite living at the Kogoro Detective Agency, he was somehow less informed than Qianzi.

Just who was Ran’s childhood friend here?!