"Ah, I knew Dad would end up like this."

  After a few days, Rauro Mouri Detective Agency, only to be greeted by a sight that went pletely beyond her expectations. The entire pce was a disaster.

  Cigarette butts, empty beer bottles, and various pieces of trash cluttered the desk. It didn't look like a detective's office at all, more like a bachelor's den gone wrong.

  "Ran? Why are you back?" Kogoro asked, looking slightly embarrassed.

  "What do you think, Dad?" Ran smiled, but there was an unmistakable edge to her voice.

  She had thought dealing with her mother was troublesome enough but it turned out her father's side was just as bad.

  One had pletely messed up the office, while the other filled the fridge with nothing but ents.

  "her of you do housework, not even cooking." Ran sighed in exasperation. She was starting to feel like her parents were pletely unreliable.

  Holy, if she wasn't around, this whole family would probably fall apart.

  Kogoro awkwardly scratched the back of his head, uo refute her words.

  "And Dad, you should really apologize to Mom already."

  "Huh?!"

  "Why should I bow my head to her?"

  Seeing her father's stubborn expression, Ran narrowed her eyes and pointed out something crucial.

  "Because Mom is very popur. I've even heard that a lot of excellent prosecutors are pursuing her."

  Kogoro's face immediately darkened.

  This was not what he wao hear.

  He khat Eri had many admirers, but the fact that Ran found out in just a few days? That was airely different level of crisis.

  God knows what kind of men were chasing after her.

  And if this kept up, one day, Ran might actually call someone else 'Dad.'

  No way. Absolutely not.

  He o talk to Eri. This was serious. He couldn't let things develop like this any further.

  Ran, seeing the clear pani her father's face, simply shrugged.

  "And Dad, do you even have any cases right now?"

  "Of course! Why?"

  Kogoro crossed his arms fidently, though most of his ret jobs were low-paying, insignifit cases.

  Ran sighed. "I was worried that with the way your office looks, you might not have had any work for a while."

  "Ran, you're uimating me. Your father still gets jobs!"

  "Yeah, I believe that," Ran said with a pout. "It's just that your cases are mostly about finding lost pets… or catg cheating spouses."

  Despite everything, she never doubted her father's detective skills.

  As a former police officer, Kogoro had his owhods of iigating and gathering evidehe skills he developed in the force transted well into detective work. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able tn from the polid open his own agency.

  The problem was that deductive reasoning had never been his strong suit.

  Which was exactly why he got so angry every time he saw Shinichi's name in the neer.

  "Dad, just so you know, Valentine's Day is ing up soon."

  "You should really take the opportunity to do something special for Mom. That way, those other prosecutors won't have a ce to give her chocotes."

  Kogoro's gaze shifted slightly, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy.

  Could it really be that bad…?

  He wasn't sure, but if he got too careless, Ran really might end up with a new dad.

  "Anyway, I've warned you," Ran tinued. "If someoeals your wife, that's on you."

  Kogoro suddenly felt a huge sense ency.

  Ran was living with Eri now, so she had diresight into the situation. If she had already noticed something, then it robably worse thahought.

  Whether those prosecutors were getting close to Eri for work or personal reasons, the fact remained he didn't like it.

  Wanting to ge the topic, he quickly asked, "Fet about me. What about you? Any pns for Valentine's Day?"

  As soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately regretted them.

  "Yes," Ran answered casually. "I retly secretely joined another club at school, and they're hosting a."

  "There's a cssmate in the club who helped me out a lot, so I pn to give him chocotes as a thank-you gesture."

  Kogoro squi her.

  "…What do you mean by 'secretly joined another club'?"

  "It means I joined as a non-official member."

  "I'm still in the karate club, so I 't join another club formally. This way, I still participate without quitting karate."

  Kogoro finally uood… a, something about it felt off.

  "The president of your karate club actually allows that?"

  "Nope."

  "Then how did you get away with it?"

  Ran shrugged. "Because a lot of people joihis club."

  "Even if there are a lot of people… wait." Kogoro's expression shifted. "Sonoko's in this club too, isn't she?"

  "Yeah."

  "…A me guess, there's another rich dy like Sonoko involved?"

  "Yup."

  Kogoro rubbed his temples.

  Good grief. That expined everything.

  He could already picture the situation.

  The karate club president wasn't ign the problem, he simply couldn't do anything about it.

  Even if he wao enforce the rules, going against Sonoko and another wealthy heiress would be a losing battle.

  The club wasn't officially allowing it, but everyone involved knew better than to interfere.

  And in the end, sihe club wasn't losing members, it was easier to just pretend not to notice.

  While thinking about all this, Mouri Kogoro suddenly realized something.

  His daughter… looked different tely.

  "Ran, have you started growing agaily?"

  Ran froze.

  "…"

  "Wait… is that true?"

  "I thought I was just imagining things."

  Her stiff rea firmed it.

  Kogoro raised an eyebrow. "Ran, you don't think I'd notice?"

  "I'm your father. Of course I'd notice."

  Ran fidgeted slightly but didn't deny it.

  Kogoro chuckled. "It's normal. You were still young when you had your first growth spurt. Normally, you'd have an ge around this age."

  "You're just ahead of schedule, that's all."