Conan: The Phantom Heart Thief

"Ran, is this really necessary?" Suzuki Sonoko, dressed in a black shirt and trousers, got off the train and looked at the street in front of her, feeling the urge to sigh. "If you need help cleaning, can't you just call a few housekeeping services?"

Suzuki Sonoko, Mouri Ran, and Kudo Shinichi had been together since kindergarten—they were true childhood friends.

Sonoko was familiar with the residential area where the Kudo family lived, but she had no real interest in it.

"There are a lot of important documents in Shinichi's father's study. It wouldn't be good to let strangers rummage through things, right?" Mouri Ran hugged her own arm and swayed slightly as she smiled. "So will you please come with me for a bit, Sonoko? The place has been uninhabited for so long—it must be full of dust…"

"As if that mystery geek ever cleaned the house himself when he was around." Suzuki Sonoko adjusted the headband on her head, clearly resigned to her friend's stubbornness. "Fine, since we're already here, let's borrow the key from the doctor's place first?"

"Yeah, I've already spoken to the doctor."

"Sigh… It's summer break, and here I am, the Suzuki family's eldest daughter, helping someone else clean their house…"

The two girls walked forward hand in hand, chatting quietly between themselves.

Conan, trailing behind them like a little tail, looked a bit awkward.

When he heard Ran suggest going to his house to clean, he felt it was completely unnecessary—but he had no reason to object. He couldn't just call to reject her using Kudo Shinichi's voice. Besides, Ran was doing it out of kindness…

As Sonoko had pointed out, when he lived at home, he had always hired someone to clean.

His villa was large, with a garden outside that also needed upkeep. Even if he wanted to clean it himself, there was no way he could manage it all.

He hadn't expected Ran to think of the house accumulating dust and to come clean it on her own…

"Cleaning the other rooms is one thing, but can we even finish the study today? It's like a whole library," Suzuki Sonoko grumbled, watching Mouri Ran retrieve the full set of keys to the Kudo residence from Dr. Agasa's place.

"A rough clean will do. I'll handle the details later, so I won't trouble you~" Mouri Ran smiled as she hugged Sonoko, dragging her to stand at the Kudo residence gate, pulling out the keys and preparing to unlock the front gate.

"I think you're being taken advantage of by that Kudo guy," Suzuki Sonoko sighed. "Poor me, a single lady, wasting a perfectly good chance to meet cute guys…"

Her voice trailed off as she suddenly locked eyes on something ahead and fell silent.

Ran and Conan noticed her strange reaction, stopped, and turned to look.

Three people were walking toward them from across the street. The moment they spotted Ran and the others, they too stopped in surprise.

Conan looked at the young man in the center, whose white hair gleamed under the summer sun, and thought to himself, Oh no.

Wasn't his elusive new neighbor supposed to be… elusive? What kind of unlucky timing was this?

This was seriously awkward. He had been speaking to Ran as "Kudo Shinichi," and as for Sonoko—she would absolutely lose control the moment she saw Joker's face.

But who were the other two? Could they be the "companions" Joker had mentioned?

Kazawa, who was wearing the Joker suit and very familiar with all of them: "…"

Kazawa Suit No. 2 pilot, Xingchuan Hui—who frequently went to Teitan High to study: "…"

Miyano Akemi, who had fooled a group of people and even faked her death in front of them: "…"

All three silently pushed up their oversized sunglasses.

Suzuki Sonoko looked closely at them, eyes sparkling with excitement. She nudged Mouri Ran with her elbow.

"Ah!" Ran yelped from the unexpected jab. Once she came to her senses, she realized the atmosphere was incredibly awkward. She forced a smile and said, "Uh… hello… um…"

Oh god, that was such a blunt greeting! Her toes curled inside her shoes in secondhand embarrassment, and her face turned slightly red. Sonoko, if you want to talk to them, why don't you just go up and do it yourself!

"Are you residents of this area?" Kazawa recovered from his surprise first. With a friendly smile, he acted as if he were meeting them for the first time. "I haven't had a chance to meet the neighbors yet. It's a shame I didn't greet anyone properly when I moved in… Have you just returned from a trip?"

"You live nearby?" Suzuki Sonoko's cheerful smile lit up. "We're good friends of the house owner. We're just here to help take care of the place. Are you new here? I visit often, but I don't think I've seen you before."

This man had white hair and dressed fashionably. Even with sunglasses covering half his face, it was obvious he was a trendy and handsome guy.

As she spoke, her sharp eyes quickly scanned the two people behind him.

The boy on the left had brown hair tied in a bun, wore a simple T-shirt and jeans, and had delicate features beneath the sunglasses—definitely good-looking.

On the right was a woman in a crisp black-and-white men's suit, her long hair tied high. She looked dashing and bold.

The three of them together looked so striking that Suzuki Sonoko, a beauty enthusiast, couldn't wait to get involved.

"Yeah, I live at No. 20," Kazawa said, pointing behind him with his thumb. "You're here to clean this place? Need any help? I haven't properly met the neighbors yet, and I haven't delivered a gift either… This is a huge house. Two young ladies and a child—must be tough doing it all on your own, right?"

Conan was taken aback. His expression shifted slightly.

Since when is Joker such a helpful neighbor? Wait, no—he is warm-hearted toward allies. But he's not the type to help with neighborhood cleaning…

Is he trying to go into my house to find something? Or is he trying to approach Ran and Sonoko for some reason?

Conan raised his alertness, quietly stepped forward, and stood in front of the gate, taking a defensive posture. He tried to warn Joker with a glare not to pull anything suspicious.

Behind Kazawa, the other two were dumbfounded by what they heard.

Let's be honest—none of the Phantom Thieves could even come up with a decent ID. They would never stroll around the neighborhood without a reason.

The real reason for this trip was because after Miyano Akemi moved in, she needed to buy a bunch of daily items and clothes.

All her previous belongings, personal IDs, and even the houses she had rented before had been exposed by the organization. She came with nothing but a single bag. The outfit she wore was just one of the spare outer layers Kazawa had left at home—because Xingchuan Hui's wardrobe was limited to T-shirts, jeans, and a rotation of black coats and trench jackets. His style was way too otaku.

So Kazawa waved his hand and took them out to shop for basic daily needs and clothes—and, hopefully, to help Hui fix his hopeless fashion sense.

And then, surprise! They ran into this scene…

Kazawa kept a warm smile on his face, but his mind was working fast.

He remembered that the trio had once come together to clean the Kudo residence… Wasn't this also the beginning of a case?