Conan: No, why aren't you following the script?

Of course, Ai Haibara is not Conan Edogawa, and she is not actually that obsessed with the truth.

Whether Xia Chuanmo was falsely conveying the imperial edict or had ulterior motives, these things were not that important to her.

She only cares about Kitagawa Isao.

If when she first escaped from the organization, she only thought of Kitagawa Isao as a sunny and cheerful young man...

Now, she already regards Kitagawa Isao as her... older brother.

That's right, it's her older brother, a big brother who takes care of her, cares about her, and is always thinking about her!

It's not that I've developed any other feelings!

Ai Haibara was well aware of the situation, and she had considered the relationship between the two of them.

In fact, she had never understood why Kitagawa Isao was so nice to her. They were just strangers who met by chance, and even if they became roommates, it was just a relationship of living under the same roof.

Ai Haibara felt that Kitagawa Isao was not a person with abnormal thoughts, and she also had a very clear understanding of herself.

Honestly, Ai Haibara considers herself a grateful person. Kitagawa Isao has taken good care of her both in life and in love, and she will definitely find an opportunity to repay him in her lifetime.

For example, she now insists on cooking for this guy every day and taking care of his food and clothing.

Ai Haibara has a clear conscience about this!

However, in order to ensure that her journey of repaying her debt of gratitude can continue, she must find out exactly what happened to Kitagawa Isao.

Why did that woman seek out Kitagawa? What exactly happened that night? Did they really rescue Conan Edogawa?

These questions, like heavy stones, have been weighing on Ai Haibara's heart for the past few days.

Seeing that Kitagawa Isao seemed to have reached some kind of consensus with Hattori Heiji, Ai Haibara composed herself and walked to his side with a smile after he hung up the phone.

"Kitagawa-kun, are you going to Tottori Prefecture?"

“Yes,” Kitagawa Isao turned around in confusion, “Hattori Heiji sent me an invitation. It just so happens that Mr. Mori also received a request before, and now he is unable to leave Tokyo, so he wanted to ask me to help him handle it.”

Ai Haibara nodded upon hearing this: "I see. Then... can I come along?"

"Hmm? Are you going too?"

Kitagawa Isao was somewhat surprised.

In his memory, Ai Haibara was not the kind of person who liked to get involved in trouble. Whenever this little girl encountered a murder case, she always looked like she didn't want to get involved. How come she suddenly changed her personality now?

But that's not important...

Kitagawa Isao thought about it. Although he had eliminated Natsukawa Mo and his group, codenamed 'Hyena,' the zoo organization had indeed not made any other moves during this period.

However, this group acted mysteriously, and he couldn't be sure if there were other people plotting something behind the scenes.

Therefore, taking Ai Haibara with him when he left Tokyo was a pretty good choice.

With Hattori Heiji by his side, those people probably won't be too presumptuous, and besides, with his current abilities...

If those people really show up, it's hard to say who will take care of whom right in front of him...

……

And so, three more days passed after agreeing to Ai Haibara's request.

Early Saturday morning, Kitagawa Isao got out of bed and woke up Haibara Ai. The two had a quick breakfast and then took the Shinkansen to Osaka to meet up with Hattori Heiji.

Hattori Heiji's face was beaming with smiles. Seeing that only Kitagawa Isao and Haibara Ai had arrived, he put his arm around Kitagawa Isao's shoulder and whispered mysteriously in his ear:

"Mr. Kitagawa, how exactly did you manage to rescue Conan? It's just the two of us here now, could you tell me in detail?"

"first,"

Kitagawa Isao glanced at him and casually removed Hattori Heiji's hand from his shoulder. "It's not just the two of us here. Ai and Kazuha are following behind. Besides... didn't I already mention this in the interview? Officer Natsukawa led the raid, and I watched from the police car the whole time."

"What about the location? Did Officer Natsukawa really not say anything at the time?" Hattori Heiji asked, still unwilling to give up.

"The location was on the main road. We stopped the criminal's car, and then Officer Natsukawa led a group to chase after him for a while. After bringing Conan back, she told me to take him back first, and then she drove off to pursue him."

Kitagawa Isao blinked, looking completely innocent, making it seem to anyone that there was nothing wrong with what he said.

However, Heiji Hattori didn't care about any of that. No matter how eloquently Kitagawa Isao spoke, he always trusted his intuition.

However, no evidence is no evidence. Even if he is Hattori Heiji, he cannot act in violation of rules and regulations...

After pressing for answers for a few more times without success, Hattori Heiji could only sigh inwardly, call for a car, and set off with the four of them on their journey to Tottori Prefecture...

……

"So, the private car service you mentioned is this kind of tractor?"

Halfway there, Kitagawa Isao looked at Hattori Heiji with a blank expression.

Heiji Hattori, however, looked completely at ease: "Mr. Kitagawa, you should be grateful. At least you have four wheels. You know, if you hadn't come, Kazuha and I were originally planning to come by motorcycle."

"So I should thank you, right?"

Kitagawa Isao was so angry he laughed. He never expected that this tractor from the Takeda family, after escaping its fate of carrying Kogoro Mori, would actually have a day when it could find another job.

It's really hard to know how to evaluate it.

Just then, Yuzo Takeda, who was driving, suddenly slammed on the brakes for some unknown reason.

Kitagawa Isao quickly reached out and grabbed the edge of the truck bed, and then used his other hand to catch Haibara Ai, so that the two of them would not be thrown over by inertia.

However, Heiji Hattori, who was sitting with his back to the camera, was not so lucky.

While he was talking at length, he was suddenly attacked from behind. He immediately stumbled forward and fell, making solid contact with the truck bed with his nose.

Heiji, are you alright?

Upon seeing his childhood friend injured, Toyama Kazuha rushed forward to offer his concern and care.

However, Hattori Heiji covered his nose and pushed her aside.

"Damn it... Hey! Uncle Takeda, what are you doing?! Don't slam on the brakes on this mountain road, you idiot!"

"Sorry, sorry," Takeda Yuzo poked his head out and said with an embarrassed smile, "I didn't mean to brake suddenly either, but... Hattori-kun, look over there."

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked in the direction that Takeda Yu was pointing.

All they saw was a blond, blue-eyed foreigner carrying a backpack, standing excitedly in front of the car, waving enthusiastically at them.