The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

"Didn't you already discuss everything with that guy? He even arranged for housekeeping for the house. Why did you still come all this way here..."

Suzuki Sonoko, who had been dragged by Mouri Ran to the front of the Kudo residence, looked up at the familiar yet unfamiliar house and shook her head.

Since then, Ran Mouri has indeed stopped coming over to help clean the Kudo residence, but sometimes she still comes over without prior notice, ostensibly to check on things.

Sonoko Suzuki knew, however, that what she was really worried about was not safety or organization; she was worried about the detective she rarely contacted and who kept in touch with her.

"Oh well, there's nothing I can do. Uncle Kudo and the others aren't home, and that guy hasn't been back for so long. Even with housekeeping, no one checks or supervises. We have to come and keep an eye on him every now and then," Ran Mouri said, making excuses as she found the key and opened the front door of the Kudo residence. "You know, some housekeepers even steal valuables when the owners aren't home..."

This key is the spare key that Shinichi Kudo left with Professor Agasa. Ran Mouri borrows it from time to time, and they've gotten used to it.

Her real purpose was certainly not what she said; she was confirming that there were no signs of strangers entering or leaving the Kudo residence.

After fully understanding Conan's situation, she realized the unsafety of the mansion.

Conan lives in the agency, but he also occasionally goes to Professor Agasa's house. He's likely to be in the vicinity, so it's hard to say whether only Ran Mouri would recognize his face.

If anyone becomes suspicious of Shinichi Kudo's long-term disappearances and occasional resurrection, this house will be the first to be targeted.

Conan didn't actually spring from a rock. Living as a child to this day, he inevitably takes many things from his own home, including his childhood clothes, money, and information about Yusaku Kudo that he needs to access in order to solve cases. All of this leaves many traces, and someone investigating might just discover something.

Of course, this was all driven by some kind of anxiety deep within her, so she never told Conan that she was doing this.

“What’s there to worry about? Mr. Yusaku has a lot of valuable things, but he’ll take precautions against theft, and someone has to know their value…” Sonoko Suzuki pouted, still complaining, but she didn’t resist following her inside.

Xiaolan wasn't telling the whole truth, and she could sense that to some extent. Conversely, she could also sense that Xiaolan had a real reason for doing so.

Who knows? Maybe Xiaolan is worried that since he's been away from home for so long and hasn't sent out even the slightest bit of news, she's worried he might be cheating on her or have changed his mind...

Upon entering the room, the two girls were both taken aback.

The weather had gotten cold recently, and the two of them wore scarves when they came. However, when they opened the door, the house was surprisingly warm, which was completely different from what they had expected.

"Has someone turned on the heat?" Ran Mouri reached out and felt around, confirming it wasn't her imagination, and murmured, "Or is it..."

Shinichi Kudo certainly couldn't be coming back. She even saw Conan eating breakfast sleepily on her way to school this morning, so he's probably still in the house now...

Within seconds, her expression turned alert, and she lowered her body, tiptoeing inside.

"Huh? What's wrong, Xiaolan?"

"We haven't heard anything about Shinichi or Uncle Yusaku coming back. Could someone have broken in... Shh, let's be careful..."

Protecting Sonoko Suzuki behind her, Ran Mouri first checked Yusaku Kudo's study, making sure that the most important place for storing documents had not been broken into, before she frowned and walked upstairs to her room.

The Kudo residences are all upstairs; since there's no one on the first floor, then there's only one possibility...

As the wary Ran Mouri turned the corner of the corridor, she bumped into someone.

The collision was physical, and it was a very solid impact.

Having already been on guard, Ran Mouri kept her center of gravity low and steady, so the guy who had deliberately bumped into her was knocked to the ground.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" The person dropped what they were holding and cried out in pain, clutching their head, "My glasses..."

"Huh? Hondou?" Sonoko Suzuki recognized the face of the person sitting on the ground and, completely losing control of her voice, exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

This reckless state, this lack of balance, is undoubtedly the work of Hondo Eisuke.

Seeing him here was truly unexpected.

Firstly, it's impossible for Hondo Eisuke to know Kudo Shinichi. He transferred to the school much later than Karasawa, so there's almost no chance that he would know Kudo Shinichi. Secondly, Hondo Eisuke is currently absent from class quite frequently, and many people in the class are almost unaware that he exists.

According to Hondo Eisuke, he suffered from acute leukemia when he was very young and survived thanks to a bone marrow transplant from a relative. Although he has not had a relapse for more than ten years, his health is not very robust, and he often has to go to the hospital when the weather gets cold.

Now that things have come to this point, no one has any doubts. They just assume that he is really not in good health and that it is really unexpected to run into him in such a place.

"Mouri-kun, Suzuki-kun, it's you guys..." Seeing stars, Hondo Eisuke fumbled for his glasses, looked up, and breathed a sigh of relief upon recognizing the people. "Sorry, I ran too fast and didn't notice anyone here..."

"No, you didn't do it on purpose... No, no, the point is, how did you end up at the Kudo's house?!"

"Ah, didn't Kudo-kun tell you?" Brushing the dust off his clothes, Hondo Eisuke, who seemed used to being thrown around, stood up and adjusted his glasses. "I'm learning from Mr. Okiya, who's currently renting a place here..."

"Mr. Okiya, who rents a place here?" Ran Mouri repeated the name, then decisively took out her phone and started dialing.

Damn it, what's that guy up to now? He didn't even say hello, almost made a fool of himself...

"What?! A university graduate student who started staying here last month, really?!"

"Hey, didn't I mention this last time? I said there was a case in the neighborhood, it was set on fire and can't be lived in anymore. There's a friend of Professor Agasa there..." Conan, who was rushing to 2-chome, quickly replied, "Professor Agasa has Ai around, so it's not convenient for him to take in another adult male. So he's staying at my, cough, at the Kudo residence."

"Is that so?" Ran Mouri turned her head to look at the person standing in front of her, and asked in a strange tone, "So you knew that Hondo-kun was here too?"

"what?!"

"You can stay in this room. If you're not comfortable facing other people's houses, there are other empty rooms on the other side. You can adjust the arrangement as needed..." At the same time, a few meters away in the Phantom Thieves' villa, Tang Ze was leading Naomi into a room with only a few simple pieces of furniture.

Because it's unknown whether anyone will live there in the future, or how many people will live there, the unclaimed rooms haven't been renovated. They'll just buy new furniture and help with tidying up when someone needs them. So, apart from the differences in layout and orientation, there aren't any major differences between the rooms.

"I'm fine, the conditions are better than I expected." Naomi pushed her suitcase to the corner of the room and practically pounced on the window. "By the way, is Shiho living next door now?"

“She lives in the next building, number 20.” Tang Ze glanced at the Kudo residence next door, its curtains drawn tightly, following the direction she pointed. “No more installing any surveillance equipment in the rooms. If you want to find her, go there yourself or send her a message…”

I told you guys, that's really enough. Two high-powered telescopes are already going too far...

As they were talking, Tang Ze suddenly noticed that the curtains of a window that should theoretically also be half-open, staring in another direction, had been pulled open.

Hmm? Is anyone home next door right now?

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know someone was already living here. I'm sorry to have bothered you by coming here like this..." Ran Mouri lowered her head apologetically as she took the teacup offered to her.

Once there are tenants, the place becomes someone else's private space. Even if it's the landlord, they should inform the landlord in advance before visiting. It's easy for strangers to suddenly barge into a residence and cause trouble.

“No, this is my fault for not making Kudo-kun explain things to you clearly.” Shuichi Akai pushed up his glasses, maintaining a gentle demeanor. “My name is Subaru Okiya, and I’m a graduate student at Toto University. Because of a problem with the apartment I was renting, Kudo-kun has temporarily taken me in here.”

Considering his condition, this isn't exactly a lie. The FBI is truly an old house rife with problems.

"Mr. Okiya, are you from Tokyo University? That's amazing!" Sonoko Suzuki exclaimed, holding the cup of black tea he offered, "What's your major?"

"I'm from the engineering department, specializing in mechanical engineering," Subaru Okiya said with a nonchalant smile.

Hondo Eisuke, who was sitting on the side, choked on his tea.

Okay, studying how to use firearms can be considered studying mechanical engineering, I guess...

Subaru Okiya's gaze naturally shifted to him: "As for Hondo-kun, he used to be my neighbor, living next to the apartment building that was destroyed by the fire. He said he was frequently absent from work for various reasons and was worried about it affecting his studies, so he posted a notice looking for a tutor. I applied to be his tutor, and now that I've moved here, he's come here with me to study..."

Wiping away the tea he coughed up, Hondo Eisuke looked back with a resentful expression.

That's a really quick excuse; they really don't mention why they were absent in the first place...

“Yes, Mr. Okiya is a graduate student, very knowledgeable, and a very good teacher.” Despite his inner complaints, Hondo Eisuke answered smoothly, “Besides taking some academic courses with him, he also teaches me exercise, and my health has been improving recently. But because of this, I sometimes stay here overnight…”

That's not entirely a lie, even though it wasn't a proper course of study.

Hondo Eisuke, as Hondo Hidemi's younger brother, had deep access to the secrets of the undercover agents and the organization. Wanting to help his sister, he was recommended by Karasawa to Akai Shuichi, who had just started working independently, as one of the first people he could recruit.

He has a good mind, but his physical fitness is indeed lacking, and he is still in the training stage.

As for why they could conduct special agent training in civilian houses, and why there was an underground shooting range in the house next door, the intelligent Hondo Eisuke knew that some things should not be investigated too deeply.

“The main problem is that the contract for the previous apartment building can’t be fulfilled. The landlord is still waiting for the insurance payout and can’t refund the rent to me for the time being. I don’t have enough money to rent a new place. Kudo-kun is a very kind person. When he learned about my situation, he agreed to lend me his apartment. I’ll just clean and tidy up the place for him as payment for the rent.” Okiya Subaru smiled and continued, following Hondo Eisuke’s words, “I did tell him that students occasionally come here, but I didn’t expect that he and Hondo-kun would be classmates.”

Conan was unaware of Hondo Eisuke's situation; he had only told Conan that he was looking for manpower and might recruit some people.

Unlike Tang Ze, who had the opportunity to come into contact with so many worthy individuals through cases and had the means to verify their credibility, he was currently mainly picking up the scraps left by the neighboring Phantom Thieves.

Many people within the Phantom Thieves have highly sensitive identities, and Tang Ze can't trust anyone with talent to take them on, even if they seem like decent people.

Tang Ze would recommend these people as appropriate, which was a kind of agreement between him and Tang Ze.

In this respect, he does have a unique advantage that even Bourbon doesn't possess, since he is now essentially a free agent and can independently coordinate team matters.

“Is that so? How amazing…” Sonoko Suzuki’s gaze was still fixed on Subaru Okiya’s face. It was unclear whether she had listened or not, but she just kept nodding.

“Sonoko…” Ran Mouri tugged at her clothes helplessly.

Okay, it seems my best friend's problem of being unable to walk past handsome guys isn't something that can be solved by dating; it might be a terminal illness...

"What does it matter? A handsome guy like Mr. Okiya can't be a bad person." Sonoko Suzuki picked up her teacup with a grin. "Someone who studies so well, works out so well, and has such a great physique, don't you think he's perfect?"

Hondo Eisuke, who picked up his teacup again, couldn't help but glance at this young lady, whom he hadn't had much contact with, who was obsessed with good looks.

To be fair, Sonoko Suzuki's statement actually hits the nail on the head.

Even with a student identity and a complete disguise, it's still difficult to completely shed the image of Subaru Okiya as a seasoned agent.

Even in black clothes that don't accentuate his features, Shuichi Akai's tall and muscular physique is still impossible to completely conceal; it's too difficult to make people think of him as a frail scholar.

Sonoko Suzuki, embarrassed to elaborate, quickly changed the subject: "Speaking of which, Hondo-kun, what are you doing bringing so many paper airplanes here? Are they from that paper airplane incident?"