Kudo Yukiko is one of those legendary figures who seem born with protagonist energy. She used to be a top-tier actress in Japan—famous at 19, married and retired at 20. A true legend of the entertainment world.
Now, more than a decade later, she and her husband have settled in the United States.
This sudden return to Japan? All because their son has "become a primary school student."
They've realized how dangerous the Black Organization is, and they want to take their son with them to America.
Of course, they also know their son is stubborn as a mule. Simply telling him to go won't cut it. So, the couple teamed up with Dr. Agasa to stage a little performance—a fake Black Org encounter to show Conan what might happen if his secret identity is exposed.
Kudo Yukiko, master of disguise, went all in.
The fat woman Jangxia saw earlier? That was "Fumiyo Edogawa," one of Yukiko's many personas.
When Jangxia returned to his closet (yes, his closet), he found two ghosts still clinging to his arms. He quickly explained the situation.
Miyano Akemi let out a long sigh of relief, scooted to the side, and squinted contentedly at the stove.
Xiaobai, on the other hand, was still buzzing with excitement.
—Yoko Kinoshita is a hardcore Yukiko Kudo fangirl. Back when she was alive, Xiaobai had watched all of Yukiko's works with her, multiple times. Even the interviews. On loop.
Jangxia caught the QvQ face Xiaobai was making. Clearly, the kid wanted to give her mom a chance to see her idol in person.
...Filial ghost.
Unfortunately, Yukiko had already whisked Conan away, and with no murderous aura or ghosts clinging to either of them, tracking them was impossible. Plus, Jangxia had a recording session coming up.
He could only pat Xiaobai on the head. "I'll ask when I get back from the show."
Xiaobai, satisfied with the vague promise, finally let go and squeezed in beside Miyano Akemi to enjoy the warmth.
Half an hour later, Jangxia scooped the ghosts off the fire, gave them a little shake to make them plump and floaty again, changed clothes, and headed out for the recording location.
It was snowing hard. Definitely not a motorcycle day.
Jangxia considered grabbing a taxi, but the moment he stepped outside, he saw the street was a parking lot.
After asking around, he figured out whose pot this was—Kudo's, obviously. In trying to flee from the terrifying "woman in black," Conan had floored Yukiko's car at a red light and caused a multi-car pileup. The chaos was so bad, traffic still hadn't recovered.
Jangxia sighed. Subway it is.
It was a bit of a walk to the station, but still faster than crawling through traffic in a cab.
As he neared the station, Jangxia tilted his head and spotted a woman in black exiting a convenience store.
Familiar chubby figure. Familiar short hair. Familiar sharp glasses…
It was Yukiko Kudo in her Edogawa Fumiyo disguise.
...Fate is wild sometimes.
Jangxia quickly pressed down on Xiaobai, who had gone into full fanboy-mode, and thought things through.
At this point, Yukiko should've already tied Conan up in some abandoned house.
So what was she doing here? Probably bored while waiting for Conan to wake up. This playful aunt likely decided to pick up some magazines or snacks to pass the time.
Jangxia glanced at Xiaobai.
The ghost's expression had upgraded from QvQ to full-on QAQ.
Jangxia had strong resistance to cute attacks.
Still, Yoko Kinoshita had done him a lot of favors before. If he could drag her idol over for a brief ghost meet-and-greet, it'd be a nice way to return the favor. Like borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha.
And Yukiko, the "flower" in this case, probably wouldn't lose anything. If anything, she might get a chance to save her perpetually dying son a few more times.
Not that there was much hope of actually abducting her—Yukiko did have important stuff going on.
But since Conan clearly wasn't going to the U.S. anyway, that "important stuff" was arguably a waste of time.
Besides, it wouldn't take long to try. And Yukiko loved stirring the pot.
Jangxia quietly adjusted his aura.
Then he jogged up and called out in his best childhood neighbor voice, "Aunti—" He caught himself mid-sentence and changed "auntie" to "sister."
Yukiko paused, turned around in surprise, and recognized the neighbor kid.
She was delighted by the "sister" bit—what a rare, discerning child! She reached out, smiling, to pat his head like she used to…
Then froze when she saw her own chunky, disguise-chubby hand.
...Right. She was still dressed as Fumiyo Edogawa.
Why did Jangxia recognize her?
Yukiko panicked, running through possible points of exposure—posture, gait, facial structure. Everyone has a unique walking style, and people who know you well can sometimes recognize you by silhouette alone.
She had actually thought of this earlier while kidnapping Conan. But keeping up a fake walk is exhausting, and she'd let her guard down, thinking no one familiar was around.
She hadn't expected to bump into Jangxia.
...And the last time she saw him was years ago. The fact that he recognized her now—no wonder Dr. Agasa said Jangxia had become a well-known detective so quickly.
Yukiko stared at Jangxia, lost in thought.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't mind chatting a bit.
But right now? She was in disguise, pretending to be Black Org, trying to terrify her son.
If they started talking, Jangxia would definitely ask about the outfit. She couldn't tell the truth. No way could she involve a neighbor kid in Black Org business. That was way too dangerous.
Thinking fast, Yukiko redirected her raised hand and gave Jangxia a hearty slap on the shoulder instead.
She laughed awkwardly, using her aunt voice: "Haha, such a sweet-talker! No one's called me 'sister' in years!"
Please, let him think I'm just some random aunt. Please don't call me out...
But Jangxia's reaction wasn't what she expected.
He paused, blinked, then said the exact words she hoped for: "Sorry, I must've mistaken you for someone else."
But before that, he looked her over with a pained expression, then lowered his gaze and turned away… looking tragically sad.
That wasn't the face of someone who made a mistake.
That was the face of someone who just got snubbed by an old friend.
"…" Yukiko felt her conscience twist painfully.
Come to think of it, Jangxia was always a quiet, thoughtful kid. When other children shouted answers the second they had a guess, he held back unless he was certain. Cautious and polite.
Which meant—this time too—he probably knew it was her before saying hello.
And even now, after so many years, he still remembered she didn't like being called "aunt" and used "sister" instead.
What a good child!
Even dressed like a suspicious auntie, he still called out to her. And she…!
Yukiko's conscience nearly collapsed.
She watched Jangxia's lonely back walk away through the snow.
What a sinful woman I am, she thought. Truly... too much.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 34/50(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS*
Glossary:
QAQ / QvQ: stylized crying emoji faces used to show exaggerated sadness or pleading
Borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha: using someone else's resources to do a good deed or earn favor