The Phantom Thief of Heart! But Conan.

"this is……"

As soon as Yuko Arisawa took the things from Tang Ze, she noticed the pattern in the corner of the neatly folded handkerchief.

This is a commemorative handkerchief issued by the organizer of a sports event, and the handkerchief is printed with the image of one of the World Championships she participated in.

That was also the last official world-class competition she participated in. Just a few days after the World Championships, she injured her tendon during training. Despite treatment and rehabilitation, she was unable to return to her original level. After struggling for a year, she chose to retire.

She had already met Tsuguro Arisawa at that time, which is the origin of the only photo of her holding up a medal with her husband and Kajimoto's family.

This happened four years ago.

"How did you get this?" Yuko Arisawa, recognizing it, rubbed her fingers together, caressing the neatly folded piece of fabric, her face full of surprise. "This thing is simply..."

It looks brand new, clearly having been carefully preserved by its owner.

The quality of souvenirs made for this competition is only so-so; they are prone to fading or wear and tear. However, the print on this piece is clear and bright, and the fabric, apart from slight hardening caused by starching, remains bright white.

“This is your husband’s,” Tang Ze explained with a smile. “He had a little accident at the restaurant and left his handkerchief there. It wasn’t convenient for him to give it to you directly just now, so the waiter asked me to pass it on.”

This wasn't a lie, except that the "waiter" who came over to hand it over was actually Kimie Shimabukuro who was following behind.

Hoshikawa Teru and Asai Narumi were tasked with stalling Arisawa Tsuguro to prevent him and Arisawa Yuko from being killed alone. They deliberately splashed soup on him, and the waiter who cooperated with them was actually Shimabukuro Kimie in disguise.

The two of them grabbed Arisawa Shirou and left. To avoid getting wet, Arisawa Shirou immediately pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket, which naturally landed on the table.

Yuko looked down at the handkerchief in her hand, then at her husband who was turning his head away and refusing to look in her direction. Her brain, which had been gripped by anger, finally cooled down briefly.

Arisawa Shiro made many wrong choices, and she made even more. But it cannot be denied that the fundamental reason why Arisawa Shiro did this was because he had feelings for her and wanted to reconsider the marriage relationship—even if the methods were excessive and inaccurate.

"It might sound strange, but I think your relationship was actually pretty good." Handing over the handkerchief, Tang Ze began to "speak the truth," adding, "Not all love and marriage have to be dramatic and lifelong. You two are actually quite satisfied with each other, aren't you?"

This couple's logic is indeed strange, but in some ways they are actually quite well-matched.

Just as Yuko Arisawa admires Hajime Kaji, a senior she can never catch up to in any way, Tsuguro Arisawa marries her because he admires her.

The spirit and temperament of challenging oneself to victory on the field is naturally more attractive. This is true for Hajime Kaji, and of course, it is also true for Yuko Arisawa.

Yuko Arisawa was able to change her life plans and become an athlete after watching Hajime Kaji's competition. Naturally, her husband would also admire her after seeing her heroic figure on the field and then pursue her.

Their relationship may not have started in the traditional sense of what romantic love is, but if it hadn't unfolded in such an extreme and absurd way, there's a good chance they would have spent their lives getting to know each other.

The root cause of this development is...

"Perhaps it's more appropriate for Sister Fei to say this than for me. I'm too young, and my words wouldn't hold water. However, Ms. Yuko and Mr. Tsugurou, if you don't think it's a bit much for me to comment, what I want to say is, please don't test human nature, and especially don't use these methods on emotional relationships. Not only will it not lead to any conclusions, but it will also widen the rift and cause irreparable consequences."

Tang Ze expressed this very sincerely.

The interpersonal relationships he is currently cultivating are extremely complex, with people gathered around for all sorts of reasons. Some of these relationships were intentionally established and cultivated by Tang Ze himself, and it cannot be denied that many were built on purely self-interested considerations.

Some relationships are based on love and hate, some on intensity, and some on numbers. There are bound to be minor mishaps, but if you ask what the basic principle that supports such a large interpersonal network is, one very important thing is trust, whether it is trust in the other person's character and personality, or in one's own judgment and ability.

Testing itself doesn't sound like a bad approach, but often, by the time a relationship reaches the point where it needs to be tested to examine its resilience, damage has already been done.

"Anyway, thank you for treating me to dinner tonight. The food was delicious. Getting too emotional is bad for your health, so please get some rest and calm down."

Ending with a series of long, honorific sentences, Tang Ze bowed and left, as if he had truly only come to deliver a handkerchief.

Yuko Arisawa, still in shock, briefly met her husband's gaze before they looked away as if electrocuted.

It is indeed a bit ridiculous to listen to a child talk about the principles of relationships, but what this young man named Tang Ze said is not without reason.

Kaji Hajime's family served only a symbolic role in their conflicts; what truly destroyed their relationship was not external factors, but their own internal turmoil.

If there's anything one should ask oneself, it's not the difference between admiration and love, or the appropriateness of maintaining a distance from an idolized senior, but rather, if one can't accept this kind of relationship, why choose to be together in the first place? After all, they've been acting this way since they met, and it's not like they just learned about each other's personalities.

While the Arisawa couple fell silent, Karasawa, who had returned to Eri's side, received a lot of stares, especially from Eri, who hadn't experienced this many times before, and looked particularly shocked.

Although everyone is used to seeing Tang Ze play the role of an emotional consultant, it is still quite shocking to see him reasoning with adults so much older than himself.

“…I’m starting to agree with Kogoro’s idea.” Eri Kisaki pushed up her glasses and had to agree. “Even if you don’t solve this case, with your current abilities, it would be a piece of cake for you to live a good life.”

If a high school student who hasn't even entered the workforce yet possesses this level of conversational skills, does it really matter whether he goes to university or pursues further education?

On a smaller scale, Tang Ze is more than qualified to be a psychological consultant or counselor. On a larger scale, his persuasive oratory skills are enough to propel him to greater heights, making politics or business a relatively easy career path.

"That's an exaggeration, Sister Fei." Tang Ze chuckled. "It's just my opinion. I just think that even if the two of them want to break up, they can resolve the issue amicably."

“You’re right.” Eri nodded, agreeing with his point of view. “I would never speak from the perspective of the abolitionists, but one of their points is worth considering: the consequences of death are too severe, rendering all issues meaningless for discussion and revision.”

Conan glanced at Ran Mouri, then at Karasawa, stood on tiptoe, and said nothing.

No one said it aloud tonight, but they all knew that Yuko Arisawa had really almost taken that step and fallen into an abyss of no return.

If the truth is discovered only at that point, it will be too late.

“Sometimes even meticulously planned crimes are just acts of impulse. If you can calm down, think things through, and re-examine the problem after a good night’s sleep, I think you’ll have a different answer.” Tang Ze nodded seriously.

As the saying goes, any problem will be fine after a good night's sleep.

If it's not fixed, it means that the Phantom Thieves of the Heart are not proactive enough and have failed to solve the problem tonight.

Unaware that the notice had already been delivered to the target right under his nose, Conan pondered Tang Ze's logic for a while and could only nod in agreement.

"I hope they can come up with a suitable solution." Ran Mouri sighed softly. "I still admire Arisawa-senpai's spirit and hard work in the competition."

Eri Kisaki, however, shook her head, disagreeing with her daughter's opinion: "Then I still hope that next time they remember to contact me, it's for serious legal advice."

Letting lawyers judge domestic disputes is too advanced; it's better to leave this to detectives.

"Huh? What do you mean I figured out the answer because all I know how to do is catch people cheating?" Kogoro Mouri, who was pretending to ask his daughter if her day went well, was furious at this comment. "I was clearly worried that you would be easily fooled by that woman, so I tried my best to use my brain!"

“Mom said that you can react so quickly because you did it before.” Ran Mouri bluntly exposed her, “You still haven’t properly apologized to her for the problems you had before, have you? It’s not entirely her fault that she’s thinking the worst.”

"Where did I not apologize? That's not even what she's bothered about..." Kogoro Mouri snorted, spun around in his office chair, and ignored her. "And I even canceled my party tonight..."

He had been invited out for drinks by an old friend tonight, but Ran Mouri, Conan, and Karasawa weren't there, so it would have been a good opportunity to relax. However, he was worried that something might have happened to Eri Kisaki, so he declined the invitation.

Conan leaned against the desk and looked at its surface.

Today, instead of some random contact books or Yoko Okino magazines, my desk is covered with what looks like a detective's analytical notes, all revolving around Yuko Arisawa's inexplicable hands-free phone call.

Well, at certain times, Kogoro Mouri is actually a competent detective.

Conan's feelings of relief and melancholy lasted until the following evening.

"Huh? Not only do Yuko Arisawa and Mr. Tsuguro Arisawa not want a divorce, but they also plan to have a prenuptial agreement made, transferring a portion of their premarital assets to each other's names?" Ran Mouri's voice trembled with shock at the news. "What happened?!"

"Who knows?" Eri twirled the pen in her hand, checking each clause of the agreement one by one, and replied helplessly, "It's said that Yuko thought it through last night and had a good talk with her husband..."

"Ok?"

"She didn't tell me the specific outcome of the conversation, but she called me this morning wanting to hire a divorce agent. So I guess they originally planned to separate amicably, or at least separate for a while to give each other some space to think things through..."

"Oh……"

"It turns out that Yuko seems to be pregnant."

"what?!"

"So they each called me, meaning they were preparing to find another way to provide protection..."

"Cough, cough, cough..." Tang Ze had just sat down at the table when he was caught in this incident, and he almost choked on the water in his mouth.

A character like Yuko Arisawa, who is clearly a protagonist in a melodramatic novel, is indeed melodramatic at heart. Whether she committed murder or not, this element cannot be removed; it's just that she has jumped from a mystery novel to a romance novel.

Misunderstandings, unrequited love, stomach aches, estrangement, discovering pregnancy on the day of divorce... What a collection of melodramatic tags...

Their Phantom Thief of the Heart only treats mental illnesses, not pregnancy preparations, so it's not his fault!

"What nonsense!" Kogoro Mouri, having taken off his apron, bluntly commented, "Am I watching a late-night drama?"

"This should be called matching the pot to the lid," Tang Ze shrugged, then glanced meaningfully at Kogoro Mouri, and then at Ran Mouri's phone.

Their story is so dramatic, but are you all any better? You're just blaming the pot calling the kettle black; at least they've shown signs of getting back together.

"What a waste of time. Detective and lawyer services are client-side businesses; it doesn't mean they have to cater to the client's mood 24/7." Kogoro Mouri was still regretting the missed invitation. "Can't you think through these kinds of questions before asking?"

"No, let's not categorize detective work as a service offered by a third party," Tang Ze said cautiously. "Forget about lawyers, detectives often don't tolerate bad reviews..."

Small cases are fine; it's all about right and wrong, and the detective just offers some advice. But if it's a big case, then it's not something that can be resolved with just a word of after-sales service.

As if to confirm his ability to make his words come true as a crystallization of cognitive science, Tang Ze's rant soon came true.

"Cough, cough, cough..." While wiping away the tea he coughed up unexpectedly, Tang Ze quickly straightened his wet shirt, maintaining the basic persona of Akechi Goro who never lost his composure, and looked at Koshimizu Nanatsuki in disbelief, "Huh? What do you mean, a negative review letter from Kudo Shinichi was sent to our agency?"

No, you could have sent it to the Kudo residence, to Kogoro Mouri, or to Heiji Hattori, why did you send it to him? Be reasonable, are there no humans left?