[Detective Conan / Hakuba Saguru] No One Is Looking

Liyue Xun is an extreme individualist: aloof, starved for affection, yet perceptive and shrewd.

She gets along with everyone around her by presenting herself as kind, gentle, cheerful, and naive. In truth, she is selfish, narrow-minded, and cold, and believes that all emotional ties are a burden.

Because she is this way, she has never understood how to love, and no one has ever been willing to love her.

Then, at seventeen, she reunites with her childhood playmate, Hakuba Saguru. The proud yet kind gentleman detective is always doing all kinds of foolish things, loving people who don't love him back.

What could that feeling be like, the one that can make the ever-arrogant young master Hakuba look so sad? To find out, she wants to try loving someone, too.

◆ A clichéd love story, featuring the multi-sided romance I love

◆ The female lead is flawed, smokes and drinks, and may not be likable. Read with caution.

◆ The characters' values do not represent the author's. Many original interpretations, with an unconventional redemption theme.

Here's a new story I'm testing the waters with:

[Detective Conan] A Love Triangle That Only She Doesn't Know About

The exceptionally talented 22-year-old superstar Huihe Yuanli receives a film offer from an international director. With no romantic experience, she decides to secretly visit Japan's biggest host club to learn how to perform the romantic scenes in the script.

Out of the crowd, she picks a black-haired young man wearing a mask. His deep blue eyes captivate her. He's not very professional and even has to watch videos with her as they go through the motions, but she really likes his face. He's pretty good, and she's more than happy to take the initiative. But just as things are about to go further, someone knocks on the door.

"Kudo, just like you planned, we can close the net now."

Huihe Yuanli, her clothes barely in place, is pinning the flushed black-haired youth beneath her. She vaguely thinks he looks familiar, and only when she hears his surname does she suddenly realize who he is.

The high school detective who's always in the news: Kudo Shinichi.

Oh no, she almost did it with a high schooler!!!

_

After that first encounter, Kudo-kun may be younger than her, but he's handsome, clever, confident, and considerate, making her feel safe. Huihe Yuanli thinks of him as a younger brother she can really trust. She's happy to chat with him, and their relationship grows increasingly flirtatious.

Just as they are about to take things further, he suddenly disappears. Even his childhood friend has no idea where he's gone.

Just when Huihe Yuanli thinks their relationship is over, someone appears on her balcony. He's dressed in a white suit stained with blood, his black hair is disheveled and wet, and his breathing is ragged and heavy. When she reaches out to help him, she sees that his face is as flushed as it was the first time they met.

"Kudo-kun?"

Is he pretending to be Kaitou Kid this time?

After that, Kudo-kun acts strangely. He stops texting her like before, and instead appears on her balcony whenever the moon rises, doing things a younger brother shouldn't do.

But one day, the young boy from the Mouri Detective Agency grabs her hand and fixes a sharp gaze on the kiss mark on her wrist. He says something no child should say.

"Have you got another man behind Shinichi-nii's back?"

Heaven knows Huihe Yuanli feels completely wronged.

She's only ever liked one man, Kudo Shinichi.

There has never been any love triangle.

◆ The female lead is a gorgeous superstar, emotionally clueless, and likes Shinichi's face. It's an older-woman, younger-man romance. As for which younger man, the series title tells you all you need to know. It's all about the fun, and there'll be an open ending on JJ.

◆ The female lead's views on love don't represent the author's. I love both Shinichi and Kaito.

◆ Some flirtation for grown-ups. I'll use a few original interpretations to have the boys grow up faster later on.

Written 2024.9.8

Theme: The feeling of loving someone