Chapter 62: The Teitan High School Festival
A few days later, the highly anticipated Teitan High School festival finally began.
"Wow, it's so lively!" Natsume exclaimed, walking along the bustling path toward the Teitan High School gymnasium. The crisp morning air was filled with the savory aroma of fried yakisoba and sweet crepes. The roadside was completely lined with colorful stalls set up by enthusiastic students. Teenagers in various costumes shouted out their wares, while others darted through the crowds, aggressively handing out brightly colored flyers to anyone who passed by.
"Mr. Mouri, Ran and the others are performing in the gymnasium, right?" Natsume asked, turning to confirm with Kogoro Mouri. She had specifically cleared her schedule today for the sole purpose of watching Ran's stage play.
"Mm-hmm, it's just a short walk ahead. Let's hurry up." Kogoro adjusted his tie, practically vibrating with excitement. He stretched his neck, trying to peer over the sea of students. It was his precious daughter's big performance today, and he absolutely refused to be even a second late.
Natsume nodded in agreement, then crouched down to look at the small boy walking beside them. Conan was bundled up, wearing a large white surgical mask that obscured half his face. "But Conan, you only recently had surgery and now you have a terrible cold. How is your body feeling? Do you need to sit down and rest before we keep going?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Let's go," Conan replied.
Hearing this, Natsume and Kogoro followed behind the small boy as he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked forward.
Natsume watched the boy's back. 'So this is the Haibara version of Conan,' she mused inwardly. The voice muffled behind the white fabric carried a distinct, icy detachment. It lacked the bright, overly energetic, and fiercely confident demeanor that the real Conan always projected. It was a flawless physical disguise, but the underlying aura was entirely different.
The group soon arrived at the massive gymnasium and handled their way backstage. The area was a chaotic mess of props, costumes, and rushing students. Amidst the organized disaster, they spotted Ran Mouri, Sonoko Suzuki, and Kazuha Toyama standing in a circle, chatting animatedly.
This was Natsume's very first time meeting Kazuha in person. She observed the cheerful girl with the signature ponytail. Supposedly, she was Heiji Hattori's official love interest. Natsume offered a warm smile, figuring this was the perfect opportunity to get to know the Osaka girl.
After they exchanged greetings and chatted for a while, a gentle voice interrupted them.
"Ran, could you come over for a second? I'd like to discuss the performance lines with you."
It was Dr. Tomoaki Araide, standing in a quiet corner of the backstage area with a script in his hands.
Ran immediately excused herself and jogged over upon hearing the school doctor. With Ran no longer blocking her line of sight, Natsume had a clear, unobstructed view of Dr. Araide. Her eyes narrowed slightly. She remembered perfectly well that the Dr. Araide standing before them was already the Black Organization executive, Vermouth, in disguise.
Natsume tilted her head, observing the doctor with intense curiosity. She genuinely wanted to know just how magical the legendary disguise techniques of this world were, and whether her own eyes could spot the deception.
As Natsume stared, the doctor happened to shift his gaze. Their eyes locked.
It lasted no more than a fraction of a second, but Natsume caught the microscopic widening of his pupils. A flash of genuine, unfiltered shock rippled through those gentle eyes the exact moment they registered her face.
'Strange, does Vermouth know me?' Natsume wondered, a slight frown tugging at her lips.
She turned the thought over in her mind but ultimately set the doubt aside for now. She had absolute confidence in her current strength, and with the Teyvat organization having grown to a formidable scale, she was more than capable of handling any normal threat the Black Organization could throw at her.
Right now, she was far more interested in the mechanics of the disguise itself. Natsume scrutinized the doctor carefully with her naked eye. She looked for seams, unnatural skin tones, or stiff movements. Nothing. She truly could not find a single flaw in the other person's disguise. From the micro-expressions to the subtle shifts in posture, the person standing there seemed completely, undeniably like a biological man.
Refusing to be thwarted by mere cosmetics, Natsume closed her eyes for a brief second and quietly activated her Elemental Sight.
She opened them again. The vibrant colors of the backstage area instantly washed out into a muted grayscale, replaced by the flowing, luminescent currents of elemental energy. Through this unique lens, the flawless facade completely crumbled. The artificial layers of latex masking the face, the subtle discrepancies in body heat, and the unnatural, restrictive flow of energy around the vocal cords became glaringly obvious.
Discovering that she possessed the absolute ability to see through these legendary disguises—even if relying on elemental powers felt a bit like cheating—made Natsume exhale a quiet breath of relief. She never wanted to find herself in a situation where a Black Organization operative disguised as one of her friends tried to fish for information right under her nose.
After a short while, a stagehand called out the five-minute warning. Everyone quickly said their goodbyes to Ran.
"Ran, good luck with the performance!" Natsume called out, leaving a final word of encouragement before exiting the backstage area. She followed Kazuha and Kogoro to the audience seating, settling into the folding chairs to prepare for the show.
Before long, the heavy velvet curtains parted, and the performance officially began.
Although the constant, dramatic shouts coming from Kogoro on her left and Kazuha on her right were incredibly distracting, the play itself was wonderfully executed. The costumes were elaborate, and the students poured their hearts into the dialogue.
Soon, the plot reached the climactic moment that Natsume had been secretly looking forward to all day. The mysterious Black Knight dramatically appeared on stage, crossing swords with the villains to rescue the beautiful princess played by Ran. The music swelled. The knight pulled the princess close, and the two leaned in, preparing to share the romantic kiss required by the script.
Beside her, Kogoro let out a strangled noise of pure parental rage. He gripped the armrests, preparing to launch himself out of his seat. Natsume reacted instantly, shooting her hands out alongside Kazuha to clamp down on Kogoro's arms. Using a fraction of her Traveler strength, she pinned the struggling detective to his chair, preventing him from rushing onto the stage and ruining the entire production.
"Ah—!"
Just as Natsume leaned forward, secretly anticipating whether the two teenagers might actually go through with the kiss this time, a piercing, bloodcurdling scream shattered the romantic atmosphere.
Natsume let go of Kogoro's arm and sighed inwardly. Her shoulders slumped in mild disappointment. As expected, the murder occurred right on cue. The two didn't get to kiss after all. It really was a pity.
The gymnasium erupted into chaos. Soon, the wailing sirens of police cruisers echoed outside, and Inspector Megure's team stormed the scene.
Natsume mentally summoned her system interface. A translucent blue screen materialized in her field of vision.
[World Mission Refreshed]
She skimmed the text and dismissed the panel with a thought. She had absolutely no intention of stepping up to solve the case before Shinichi Kudo today. It was a remarkably rare occasion for the teenage detective to appear before Ran in his true body. She wasn't some heartless monster who would steal his spotlight; she might as well let him show off in front of his girl for a bit.
At the same time, this was the perfect opportunity to let Vermouth see exactly how fearless her precious 'cool guy' truly was. He was daring enough to appear in front of hundreds of people in a highly public venue, completely unafraid that the Black Organization might discover he survived the poison and send assassins to clean up the loose ends. By letting Vermouth witness this sheer audacity, Natsume figured the executive would take it upon herself to scare the boy straight in the future. At the very least, Shinichi needed to learn the lethal stakes of this game and stop being so impulsive and reckless.
What followed was the absolute highlight for Shinichi Kudo. After taking the experimental, temporary antidote Ai Haibara had synthesized—based on the data gathered when his body briefly returned to normal after drinking white wine while suffering a severe cold—he had regained his teenage form.
Standing tall on the stage, Shinichi worked smoothly alongside Heiji Hattori. The two brilliant detectives broke down the alibis, exposed the trick behind the locked-room murder, and cornered the culprit., because Shinichi was standing right there while the masked 'Conan' watched from the sidelines, he successfully completely dispelled Ran's growing suspicions that the two were the same person.
There was a brief, highly comedic interlude where Heiji had attempted to apply pale face powder to pretend to be Shinichi, which only succeeded in deeply angering Inspector Megure and Kogoro. But overall, the case was resolved smoothly.
It was only at the very end, as the police led the culprit away, that the adrenaline faded. Shinichi's face drained of all color. He clutched his chest, gasping for air, and suddenly collapsed to the floor, giving everyone in the room a massive fright.
Natsume quickly rushed forward, helping a panicked Ran support Shinichi's dead weight as they dragged him to the school nurse's office. Dr. Araide immediately took charge, checking the boy's pulse and temperature. After a tense minute, the doctor offered a reassuring smile, stating that it was likely just exhaustion and there was nothing seriously wrong. The heavy atmosphere in the room finally lifted.
Sure enough, before long, Shinichi groaned and fluttered his eyes open. Since his body seemed stable and the festival was wrapping up, everyone expressed their deep gratitude to Dr. Araide, said their goodbyes, and left the office one by one.
After Ran, Shinichi, and the rest of the noisy group finally departed, the nurse's office fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.
Only Dr. Araide remained. He stood by the white medical cabinets, slowly and methodically organizing the medicine bottles left on the counter. The soft clinking of glass was the only sound in the room.
He turned to place a bottle of rubbing alcohol back on the top shelf. As he did, his hand froze. His pupils constricted to pinpricks.
Reflected in the glass of the cabinet door was a figure. Someone had silently bypassed his heightened senses and appeared directly behind him.
Tomoaki Araide turned around slowly. A perfectly crafted look of mild, gentle surprise washed over his features. "Who are you? Are you also here for the school festival? The main events aren't being held in this wing. If you're lost, I can show you the way out."
He looked exactly like a good-natured, harmless doctor ready to help a wandering stranger.
Cointreau stepped forward, completely ignoring the flawless doctor facade. The voice that cut through the quiet room was sharp, carrying a dangerous weight that shattered the mundane atmosphere entirely.
"Vermouth, there is no need to play dumb. You saw it, didn't you?"
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