The Gods Are Fighting Over Me - Chapter 12
An inconspicuous café in Beika Town.
Lin Jianyue was hunched over a table by the window, her stylus moving quickly on her tablet. The PS layers were stacked high with over a dozen unmerged color blocks and line art. Her mentor had been hounding her for this illustration for three days, and it had to be done today.
Two steaming cups of espresso were placed on the table. Lin Jianyue raised a hand to rub her throbbing temples and stopped drawing.
She took the manga book out of her bag, wanting to take a break while she drank her coffee to see what was happening on Conan’s side. She flipped to the most recent page, where Conan Edogawa and his friends were withered and exhausted by the blazing sun. Kogoro Mori was about to shrivel up like a piece of dried fish.
The next moment, Kogoro Mori’s eyes lit up, and he pointed at a café ahead. “Let’s go sit inside!”
The familiar storefront made Lin Jianyue freeze. She slowly put down the manga and looked up, just in time to see Kogoro Mori and his group push open the glass door and walk in.
The wind chimes jingled. Kogoro Mori was a blur as he rushed straight to the counter. Behind him were a more composed Ran Mori and Conan Edogawa, who was holding Ran’s hand.
Lin Jianyue’s heart sank as she stared at the familiar trio.
She had studied the strange Detective Conan manga last night. Although it recorded what was happening around Conan in real-time, it would automatically omit things it considered unimportant.
Being recorded in the manga with such detail meant that an important plot was about to happen here.
Lin Jianyue tapped her fingers on the table, resting her chin in her hand, thinking about whether she should stay and watch the show. She had a meeting scheduled here, but there was another café a hundred meters away. She still had time to change locations.
As she was thinking, her phone chimed. It was a message from her colleague: I’m here. I’m across the street.
Lin Jianyue looked down and gave up on the idea of changing locations.
As she put her phone down, she unexpectedly met a pair of scrutinizing eyes. Conan Edogawa was still holding Ran Mori’s hand, standing quietly by the counter, but he was staring intently at Lin Jianyue. He pushed up his glasses, and the overly clear eyes held a scrutiny that didn’t match his age.
“Well, hello there, you’re a beautiful young lady!” Kogoro Mori’s loud voice broke the quiet of the café. He let go of Ran Mori and walked excitedly toward Lin Jianyue. “Is this your first time here? I’m a regular. Want me to recommend some good desserts for you?”
“Dad!” Ran’s face turned red in an instant. She rushed over, grabbed his arm, and dragged him back. “Stop embarrassing yourself here!”
She turned to Lin Jianyue and bowed, her face flushed with apology. “I’m so sorry. My dad…”
“It’s okay.” Lin Jianyue calmly put the manga, which was still in its plastic case, back into her bag.
Ran Mori seemed to remember something, and her eyes lit up. “Oh, that’s right. I contacted Professor Agasa this morning, and he said Shinichi is far away working on a difficult case and won’t be back for a while. But if he contacts me, I’ll have him find you right away.”
Lin Jianyue nodded in agreement, but the corner of her eye was on Conan Edogawa. Noticing her gaze, the boy changed his serious demeanor to a childish, innocent one. He chuckled, pointing at the other cup of coffee in front of Lin Jianyue. “Are you waiting for someone, miss?”
Lin Jianyue picked up her coffee and said bluntly, “I don’t want to tell you.”
Just then, the café door was pushed open again. A man in a white shirt walked in quickly and went straight to Lin Jianyue’s table. “Lin Jianyue! Are you going to fix this illustration or not?”
It was her colleague, Takahashi.
Lin Jianyue looked up lazily. “There’s nothing wrong with my drawing. You’re just trying to pick a fight.”
“What do you know?” Takahashi raised his voice, causing people at nearby tables to look over. “Am I the senior or are you? Just fix it when I tell you to!”
“I asked my mentor. She said there’s nothing wrong with my drawing.”
Takahashi paused, then said angrily, “You’re using our mentor against me!”
The argument grew louder, and a scoff suddenly came from the next table. A woman with bright red, curly hair tapped the table with her finger and said in a snarky tone, “Mr. Takahashi, you’re so good. Just the other day, you were complaining about your clueless junior. And now you’ve got a new one?”
Lin Jianyue looked over and noticed a man in a black hoodie sitting in the corner behind the red-haired woman. He was quietly drinking his coffee, his knuckles white as he held the mug. He looked terrifyingly gloomy.
This scene… was so familiar.
Lin Jianyue paused, and a ridiculous thought came to her—this was the standard prelude to a Case Closed case. One victim and three suspects. The cast was all here.
Takahashi was clearly infuriated by the red-haired woman’s words, and his face was beet red. He picked up his coffee and took a big gulp, but the hot temperature scalded his tongue. His hand shook, and a few drops of the thick coffee spilled onto the collar of his white shirt.
He gave Lin Jianyue a fierce glare, then grabbed his jacket and turned to leave. “Who told you to order hot coffee? You can’t even do a simple thing like that, right? I’m going to the restroom. You’d better think this through!”
The moment he slammed the door and went into the restroom, the man in the black hoodie in the corner suddenly stood up and followed him. He came back out half a minute later.
The red-haired woman also went to the restroom at one point. But twenty minutes went by, and Takahashi still hadn’t returned.
Kogoro Mori and his group had already sat down at the table next to Lin Jianyue. He looked at his watch and pouted. “What’s he doing? Why is he taking so long in the restroom?”
No one answered.
After another five minutes, Conan was the first to realize something was wrong. He jumped down from his seat. “I’ll go check.”
Ten seconds later, Conan came back in a hurry, snatching Kogoro Mori’s phone.
“Conan, you little brat! You”
“Uncle! That person named Takahashi is dead in the restroom!!”
“What?!” Kogoro Mori was the first to rush over, with Conan right behind him. Ran Mori’s face turned pale, and she stayed in her seat, worried.
Lin Jianyue glanced at them and went back to her tablet to start drawing again.
Her stylus moved across the screen, but she had no inspiration. It would be a lie to say she had no feelings about her colleague’s death after all, it was the first time she had been so close to death, especially someone she had just been talking to a few minutes ago. It was a bit shocking.
But more than that, she felt a sort of inappropriate clarity: Takahashi was her mentor’s most valued student. Now that he was dead, she was the most talented among the remaining students. She would likely become her mentor’s new key protégé.
The thought surprised even her, but she quickly returned to her calm state.
“Miss, what are you doing?” Conan had walked back at some point. He looked up at her, and his eyes behind his glasses were full of curiosity.
“Drawing.”
“Oh,” Conan dragged out the end of his word. “Is that the drawing that Mr. Takahashi asked you to change? He was so mean to you.”
“Are you trying to say I have a motive to kill him?”
“Huh?” Conan looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected Lin Jianyue to be so direct.
He scratched the back of his head and let out a series of innocent, silly laughs. Then he clenched his fists, looking indignant, trying to bring the topic back around. “How could you say that? I’m just angry for you!”
“Speaking of which, why did you and Mr. Takahashi meet here?”
Lin Jianyue looked up at his innocent face and suddenly asked, “Conan, do you think detectives have the right to enforce the law?”
Conan was taken aback. “What?”
“I’m saying,” Lin Jianyue’s voice was soft but serious. “The true nature of a ‘detective’ is that they’re just a group of ordinary people without any legal authority. They can’t even request personal information from the court like a lawyer, or demand that citizens cooperate like a police officer.”
“If I don’t answer, what are you going to do?”
Conan’s expression stiffened. Just as he was about to speak, Lin Jianyue suddenly laughed and reached out to ruffle his hair. “Just kidding.”
The wail of a siren grew closer and soon stopped in front of the café.
Two police officers came through the door. One was tall and big, no smaller than Gin. The other had tanned skin from being out in the sun, and his eyes were as clear as a rookie’s.
It was Wataru Date and Wataru Takagi.
The stylus in Lin Jianyue’s hand stopped, leaving a jarring black dot on the canvas.
Wataru Date?
He didn’t…
So he was alive too?
Wataru Date clearly saw her as well. He paused, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. Then he gave her a subtle nod and turned to walk to the restroom. Wataru Takagi didn’t react much to Lin Jianyue. He followed Wataru Date, putting on a pair of white gloves as he went into the restroom.
Lin Jianyue’s heart skipped a beat. Wataru Date was alive, and Wataru Takagi hadn’t been transferred to another unit because he died in the line of duty. What about Miwako Sato? Had Wataru Takagi met the elite female police officer yet?
Takagi and Sato were the adult couple she rooted for the most. She didn’t want to be the butterfly that flapped its wings and ruined their love.
As she was zoning out, Wataru Date had already finished his investigation and came out, his eyebrows furrowed.
He took out his phone, his fingers quickly typing.
“There are three suspects.” Wataru Date put his phone away, his voice calm. “This Miss Lin Jianyue, who is the victim’s junior from the same school and had an argument with him earlier; this red-haired lady, who claims the victim played with her feelings; and this man in the black hoodie, who is reportedly the victim’s colleague and had his designs stolen by him.”
“I’m going to check your belongings now.” Wataru Date scanned the three of them. He wasn’t going to let her off the hook just because of his connection with Kenji Hagiwara.
Conan immediately walked over, his eyes shining. He was clearly very interested in the bag search.
Lin Jianyue suddenly spoke up. “I’ll cooperate, but I’ll only let this officer search.” She raised her finger and pointed at Wataru Date. “No one else, including the child, can look.”
Conan’s eyebrows furrowed instantly, and his eyes behind his glasses were full of confusion. Takagi was also taken aback. “But…”
“I heard that Japan is a country that values personal privacy very much,” Lin Jianyue said calmly, with a hint of coercion. “I’m sure that such an excellent country wouldn’t force me to show my personal belongings to everyone.”
Wataru Date looked at her for a few seconds and then nodded. “Okay.”
He took Lin Jianyue’s bag and walked with her to the corner of the café.
As he unzipped the bag, Wataru Date paused. Besides the usual personal items, there was a copy of the Case Closed manga sticking out, the second volume that she had brought with her that morning.
Wataru Date’s expression was even more subtle. He glanced at Lin Jianyue and said in a low voice, “Remember to hide your manga.”
Lin Jianyue was squatting next to Wataru Date, staring at him intently. She said in a low voice, “Officer, how do you know me?”
Wataru Date smiled. “Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Wataru Date. You should know me. Rei gave me a picture of you two days ago and told me to look out for you.”
“They’re looking for me?”
“I don’t know the details, but Rei said he’ll explain it to you himself when he has time,” he paused, and added, “Don’t worry, the police in Tokyo are very reliable.”
Lin Jianyue didn’t object to the phrase “the police in Tokyo are very reliable.” She rested her chin in her hand for a moment, thinking, then reopened the manga book.
In the book, Conan was whispering to Takagi. “Officer Takagi, that girl is so strange. Why would she only let Officer Date search her bag? Is she hiding something?”
Takagi scratched his head. “Maybe she just has something she doesn’t want people to see…”
“Your manga!” Wataru Date had also noticed it. He was full of surprise. “It’s updating in real-time!”
Lin Jianyue nodded and tucked the manga back into her bag. She walked over to Conan and crouched down to his level. The sunlight coming through the window fell on her face, and her expression was serious. “Conan, I know what you’re thinking.”
Conan froze, and his face went blank.
“Just kidding.” Lin Jianyue laughed again and ruffled his hair twice. She stood up and went back to her seat, opening her tablet to continue drawing.
In her peripheral vision, Conan Edogawa’s attention had shifted from the murder case to her, and he was peeking at her from around the table.
Wataru Date was very efficient and had sorted out the clues in less than half an hour.
Her and the red-haired woman’s suspicion was ruled out. The case was ultimately determined to be the man in the black hoodie, who, after having his designs stolen for a long time, killed Takahashi in a fit of rage.
As the case was being solved, a familiar engine sound came from the café door. Lin Jianyue looked up. A white sedan was parked on the side of the road, the same one Kenji Hagiwara had been driving yesterday.
“Lin.”
When Kenji Hagiwara got out of the driver’s seat, Wataru Date also walked toward Lin Jianyue.
He had a gentle smile on his face. “Let me officially introduce myself. I’m Kenji’s colleague. They all like to call me Class Rep. If you don’t mind, you can call me Class Rep, just like Kenji does.”
He chuckled and leaned on the counter next to her. “I’ve heard a lot about you for a long time, and I’m finally getting to meet you. I saw you when I came here and was worried that the murder case would scare you, so I specifically sent a text to Kenji and asked him to come.”
Lin Jianyue looked at him and suddenly understood everything. She blinked, her expression subtle. “Officer Date, did Kenji not tell you that I’ve never considered him a real boyfriend? And last night, I just had a huge fight with him and told him to get lost and not to come near me.”
The smile on Wataru Date’s face froze instantly, as if he had been paused.
Just then, the café door was pushed open, and Kenji Hagiwara quickly walked in.
When he saw Lin Jianyue, his eyes lit up, and he walked straight toward the two of them, his tone so natural as if he had just been passing by. “What a coincidence, Jianyue. I was on my way home from work and wanted to get a coffee. I didn’t expect you to be here—”
He didn’t finish his sentence. He noticed Wataru Date’s stiff expression and Lin Jianyue’s calm, all-knowing gaze.
Kenji Hagiwara’s smile instantly vanished. He looked at Wataru Date tentatively. “Class Rep… you didn’t tell her I was coming to pick her up, did you?”
Wataru Date opened his mouth, but said nothing. He just silently turned his head and pretended to look at the scenery outside the window.
Lin Jianyue looked at Kenji Hagiwara’s suddenly nervous face and found it a little funny. She picked up her bag and turned to walk to the door.
As she passed Kenji Hagiwara, she paused. “It’s so hot outside. Can I ask you to drive me home?”
Kenji Hagiwara was stunned, but he immediately followed her, his steps so light it was as if he were walking on clouds.
As he passed Wataru Date, he didn’t forget to say in a low voice, “Thanks, Class Rep.”