Detective Conan: I'm a Boy, But They Treat Me Like a Big Sister — Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Oh No, Why Are You Here Too?

The weekend morning sun spilled across Beika Town. While the second day of the Sobu High School Festival raged on with chaotic teenage energy, Tōhō Getsukai had opted for a completely different battlefield. He didn’t go to the festival; instead, he dragged the little shut-in scientist out of her laboratory to the Beika Town mall, fully intending to fulfill his absolute duty as a peerless older sister.

“So, you dragged me out of the laboratory just for this?”

In the children’s clothing section on the third floor of the mall, Ai Haibara stood stiffly in front of a full-length fitting mirror.

She wore a beige knitted cardigan over a crisp white shirt, paired with a dark grey pleated skirt. Tōhō Getsukai had even pinned a small, tea-colored hair clip into her bangs, framing her delicate features perfectly.

“What else?”

Tōhō squatted down in front of her, carefully smoothing out the cuffs of her pristine white socks. “You can’t keep wearing the exact same outfit to Teitan Elementary School every single day. Even genius scientists need a change of wardrobe.” He patted her calf lightly. “This outfit is perfect. Good girl, spin around.”

Haibara froze, her expression flat. But a few feet away, a sales assistant was already clutching her chest, looking dangerously close to passing out from the sheer visual overload.

A silver-haired beauty shopping with an aloof, tea-haired little girl.

One radiated gentle warmth, the other projected cool indifference. One coordinated the outfits, the other reluctantly wore them. It was a devastatingly perfect sisterly combination.

Feeling the burning gaze of the staff, Haibara’s earlobes flushed a faint pink. Eventually, she surrendered and slowly turned on her heel. The pleated skirt flared out in a gentle arc before settling back against her knees.

Tōhō nodded, a satisfied smile gracing his lips. “We’ll take it!”

Haibara raised a hand, her fingertips brushing against the hair clip. The gesture was incredibly subtle, so light that she herself felt a twinge of childish embarrassment.

Tōhō pretended not to see it. A truly mature older sister knew better than to point out a child’s fleeting shyness.

“Try this one too.” Tōhō held up a dress.

“I’m not trying it on.” Haibara took one look at the fabric and immediately shook her head, taking a step back. “Because it’s too cute.”

“You are an elementary school student right now. Act the part.” Tōhō smoothly shoved the dress into her arms, placed his hands on her small shoulders, and gently steered her toward the fitting room. “Go on.”

Clutching the dress against her chest, Haibara stepped inside. Just before pulling the curtain shut, she shot him a look. Her clear, icy blue eyes held a rare trace of helplessness—the distinct awkwardness of being cared for so thoroughly that she had absolutely nowhere to hide.

While waiting, Tōhō pulled out his phone and scrolled through his mental checklist. Jackets, skirts, socks, pajamas, hair accessories, sneakers, little leather shoes.

And children’s skincare. Sunscreen was an absolute necessity. The sun in Beika Town might not be as lethal as the Black Organization, but allowing this girl’s fair skin to tan was equally unforgivable.

A minute later, the curtain slid open.

Haibara stepped out wearing the light blue dress. It featured a slightly high waistline, delicate embroidery circling the collar, and a hem that stopped just above her knees. With her short hair pinned to the side, her clean, refined little face was fully on display.

The sales assistant let out a soft gasp, her hands flying to her cheeks. “It’s perfect!”

Startled by the sudden praise, Haibara immediately retreated half a step.

Tōhō closed the distance, dropping to one knee to adjust the embroidered neckline. “Yes, we’ll take this one too.”

“You…” Haibara murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. “You will spoil people like this.”

“Is that so?” Tōhō’s lips curled into a teasing smile. “Then go ahead and be spoiled for me to see.”

“…Childish.” She turned her head away, breaking eye contact, but notably made no move to change back into her original clothes.

At the checkout counter, the sales assistant couldn’t stop smiling as she tallied the bill. “Your little sister is so incredibly well-behaved.”

Haibara’s hand, which had been holding the spare hair clip, paused mid-air.

Tōhō nodded without missing a beat, his tone entirely natural. “Yes, my little sister.”

Haibara kept her mouth shut. She simply dropped the hair clip into the shopping bag and nudged the paper handles toward Tōhō. The movement was tiny, but the translation was loud and clear: You carry it.

Tōhō, lacking any desire to lug bags around the mall, simply smiled at the clerk and arranged for everything to be packed up and delivered directly to the 2-chome apartment.

Leaving the boutique behind, the duo headed toward a popular dessert shop. Haibara had changed back into the beige cardigan outfit, her feet now sporting the newly purchased little leather shoes.

After a few minutes, Tōhō noticed the little girl’s pace dragging. He deliberately slowed his own steps. “What’s wrong? Are they rubbing your feet?”

“Don’t be stubborn!”

The two stopped near the mall lobby. Tōhō looked down. Haibara looked up.

Three seconds of silent standoff later, Haibara averted her gaze and surrendered. “My right heel. Just a little bit.”

Tōhō placed the small shopping bag they had kept on a nearby bench. He rummaged through it, pulling out the anti-blister pads they had just bought.

Haibara subconsciously stepped back, her eyes darting toward the passing crowds. “There are a lot of people here, I’ll do it myself.”

“Sit down.”

Two words. Absolute authority. Her resistance crumbled instantly.

Haibara pursed her lips, hopped onto the bench, and extended her right foot. Tōhō knelt, slipping off the stiff leather shoe and gently tugging down her white sock. A harsh red mark glared against her pale heel.

Channeling a faint pulse of Hamon Breathing into his fingertips, he pressed against the irritated skin. A soothing warmth seeped into her heel, and the angry redness rapidly faded. He then peeled the backing off a blister pad and smoothed it over the area.

Watching him lower his head to tend to her, Haibara opened her mouth, fully intending to deliver a sharp, sarcastic remark. Instead, the words caught in her throat.

“Thank you, sister,” she mumbled softly.

She slipped the shoe back on and hopped off the bench. This time, she didn’t walk beside him. She reached out, her small fingers lightly gripping the hem of his sun-protective clothing.

They rounded the corner of the atrium, the brightly lit dessert shop coming into view. The glass display cases were packed with glistening strawberry tarts, rich caramel puddings, and fluffy matcha rolls.

Just as Haibara took a step toward the glass, she froze.

Coming out of the elevator on the opposite side of the corridor were four elementary school students. It was the noisy brats from her class at Teitan Elementary—the self-proclaimed Detective Boys.

And walking right in the center of the pack was the bespectacled Conan Edogawa.

Tōhō locked eyes with Conan. He let out a long, slow sigh, his expression instantly morphing into one of deep exhaustion, as if he were staring at a walking plague god.

“Oh no. Why are you here too?”

Conan’s eye twitched violently, his face twisting in sheer confusion. “Hey! What kind of reaction is that?!”

“A perfectly normal reaction to seeing the source of all trouble.”

“Who are you calling a source of trouble?!”

Conan took an aggressive step forward, ready to argue, but Tōhō was faster. He bent down, scooped Haibara up into his arms, and spun on his heel, walking briskly in the opposite direction.

Haibara didn’t struggle in the slightest. She expertly adjusted her center of gravity, shifting into a comfortable sitting position and resting one hand casually on Tōhō’s shoulder.

Conan stood frozen, his jaw dropping. “Wait a second! Why are you running away?!”

“If I don’t run, am I supposed to just stand here and wait to get dragged into a case by you?” Tōhō called back over his shoulder.

“What the hell does that mean?!”

The three actual children of the Detective Boys, who had been distracted by a nearby toy store display, finally noticed Conan shouting at a retreating figure. They jogged over.

“Conan, was that Ai Haibara just now?” Ayumi, wearing a cute white hairband, tilted her head, her eyes wide with curiosity.

“Who took Ai Haibara away!”

“Is it one of her relatives?”

The three kids chattered over each other, but by the time they looked down the hall, all they could see was the elegant sweep of a back and beautiful hair disappearing around a corner.

“If you want to know, just ask her yourselves the next time you see her,” Conan muttered, shaking his head in utter exasperation.

Meanwhile, Tōhō had already carried Haibara through the heavy fire doors into the emergency stairwell, descending toward the second floor.

Resting her chin on his shoulder, Haibara blinked. “Is Shinichi Kudo really that dangerous?”

Before Tōhō could even open his mouth to answer, they reached the second-floor landing.

A blood-curdling scream erupted from the third floor above them. The sheer volume of the shriek pierced straight through the mall’s ambient noise, making the entire floor shake.

Haibara: “…”

She slowly turned her head, peering through the glass window of the fire door. The sound of chaotic footsteps and the panicked, frantic shouts of store staff flooded the corridor.

“Someone collapsed!”

“Call the police! Quickly!”

“Don’t touch the body!”

Haibara shifted her gaze slightly higher, looking toward the third-floor atrium. Right on cue, she watched as Shinichi Kudo sprinted furiously past the railing, charging headfirst toward the fresh crime scene.