Chapter 72 Memory Flash
Chapter 73: Memory Flash

After turning a few paths, Shiho and I arrived at Kudo's house. Looking through the iron gate, the ground was covered with fallen leaves and dust, and it seemed that it had not been cleaned for a while.

"Huh... it seems that no one has come back." I couldn't help but sigh as I stood at the gate. I was finally getting close to the plot. It wasn't easy to get through these ten years. Although I had the company of Shiho and Shizuru along the way, it would always feel weird if I didn't enter the main storyline. My advantage as a time traveler has been reduced after ten years of baptism. Fortunately, I still remember Mingmei's murder very clearly. I don't care about other things, at least I have to change this plot.

"Ala, Master Killer, what are you daydreaming about?" Shiho smiled playfully when she saw me staring at the building in front of me. "Are you still thinking about your sister Bei?"

"Hey, hey..." I looked at Shiho who was still jealous with a twitch in my mouth. "I was defeated by you, a jealous little princess." I said helplessly. "I was just wondering how to walk into a yard like this without leaving any trace. Oh, how did you get in last time?" I suddenly became alert. How did Shiho and the others walk in without leaving any trace a month ago?
"Who's jealous?" Shiho's cheeks turned slightly red, and she rolled her eyes at me in reproach, and said slowly. "Last time, an outside member shot and broke the door lock. After investigation, a new big lock was replaced. Of course, the replacement lock is the same as the original one. A new key was also made." Shiho said, taking out a shiny metal from the pocket of her white coat and walked towards the door.

Kaka.

A subtle sound was heard, and the lock of the door opened. Shiho opened the door and walked in.

"Wait a minute Shiho!" I called her hurriedly.

"What's wrong, Mr. Killer?" Shiho turned around and looked at me with a frown.

"Hehe, won't you leave footprints if you walk in like this?" I scratched my head and smiled.

"It doesn't matter. The footprints left last time are still there." Shiho pointed to the ground. There had been no wind or rain in the past month, and the marks on the ground had basically not changed. Although they were very faint, if you looked closely you could still see some footprints going in and out.

"Hey, hey..." I narrowed my eyes. They are researchers and peripheral members, but they didn't even do the most basic cleaning. If Kudo Shinichi really wanted to find some FBI to protect himself, the organization would have been discovered by them long ago. With a slight sigh, I followed Shiho to Kudo's villa.

Squeak...

The door opened to the left and right, and a strong smell of dust came towards me. Frowning slightly, I walked inside with Shiho, who looked expressionless.

Entering the room, the first thing that comes into view is a huge bookshelf and an oversized desk. There are three rooms on the second floor, which should be bedrooms.

"It seems like no one has been here for a long time." I wiped the dust off the bookshelf with my fingers and said helplessly.

"Well, judging from the appearance, no one has come in for a month." Shiho was also a little dissatisfied with the smell of dust in the house.

"Let's go to the second floor. If Kudo Shinichi has really become smaller, maybe we can find out something by going to his room." I suggested. Shiho didn't object, and accompanied me to Kudo's room on the second floor.

The layout of the room was very ordinary, no different from that of an ordinary high school student room. The only difference was that every corner of the room was covered with dust, and there were some signs of movement on the table and the cabinet. I guess they were left behind by Shiho and the others after their inspection last month.

I stood by the door of the room, watching Shiho checking the tables and cabinets one by one, but her cold expression never changed, as if nothing could attract her attention. Looking at her cold expression, she must be angry, right? I just mentioned Vermouth. I scratched my head a little embarrassedly and walked towards her.

"What's going on Shiho, did you find anything?"

"No, except for the three cabinets at the back that have not been checked, everything else is exactly the same as the last time I searched." Shiho stood up, wiped the sweat off her forehead and frowned. Then she turned to look at me with a dull look in my eyes, and then said to me with a hint of displeasure. "Pervert, have you seen enough? If you have, come over and help me find it."

"Um, sorry, sorry." I chuckled. Shiho's action of wiping her sweat just now made me a little distracted. I didn't expect that Shiho could be so charming when she was working seriously. A seemingly ordinary action on Shiho turned out to be so charming.

"Well, you pervert, did you find anything?" Shiho squinted at me. "If you dare to say you didn't find anything, I won't let you off!"

"Yes, Queen." I immediately turned into a dot-eyed person and answered seriously. I dare not mess with an angry Shiho, it is more terrifying than an S-rank mission. I walked to a cabinet in the room, squatted down and whispered to Shiho. "Queen, please look, this is what I found." I pointed to the floor next to the cabinet.

Shiho looked at me pointing at the floor in a daze. If it was the cabinet, she could understand, after all, she hadn't checked the cabinet next to where I was standing, but she didn't understand the floor. Seeing Shiho's puzzled look, I smiled and explained. "Shiho, look here, although it's very light, but if you look closely, you will find something different."

"Huh?" Shiho walked closer to me, squatted down, and looked at the floor carefully, but she found nothing except dust.

"Is there anything here?" Shiho looked for a long time but still didn't find anything different.

"Um...Okay, let me explain." I smiled awkwardly and pointed to the floor. "Although this place is covered with dust like other places, if you look carefully you can see a lot of footprints. I believe these were left when you came to investigate a month ago. However, although they are very subtle, if you look carefully, you will see a very small footprint among the larger footprints. It is obvious that someone passed by here again after you left and left them again."

"Small footprints...you mean..." Shiho seemed to understand what I meant.

"That's right, such small footprints should have been left by a child, which means it is very likely what you said, Kudo Shinichi has really become smaller. And the secret is very likely hidden in the cabinet facing this footprint." I pointed to the cabinet next to me and said with a little seriousness.

Hearing what I said, Shiho's pupils shrank slightly, followed by a faint sneer. "Haha, it seems that things are getting interesting." Then, Shiho narrowed her eyes again, "Then why didn't you just tell me that there might be something wrong with this cabinet." "Uh..." My eyes narrowed again. "Because... because I don't know if you touched this cabinet when you checked it last time. If I tell you directly that there is something wrong with this cabinet, and you find that there is nothing wrong with it after you open it, then you won't forgive me." I defended like a child.

"Hmph, I'll let you go this time." Shiho smiled softly, turned around and opened the cabinet and began to check.

"Hehe...hehe...thank you, Queen, for not killing me." The corners of my mouth twitched slightly. Once Shiho's queen temperament was released, I really had no ability to resist it at all.

————The scent of orchids, the scent of lavender, the scent of home & the wings of angels, the wings of demons, the wings of guardians————

Squeak.

A subtle sound came into my ears. Although it was very small, the sound made me tremble slightly. Someone came in!
I quickly pulled up Shiho who was checking the cabinet, and before she could say anything I covered her mouth. I put a finger in front of her lips to signal her to be quiet. Shiho was a little angry when I pulled her up, but after seeing my serious expression she seemed to understand what I meant.

[Can you read lips?] I moved my lips slightly and spoke to Shiho using lip language. Shiho nodded slightly after seeing my movements, and after receiving her affirmation, I put down my hand that was covering Shiho.

[What happened?] Shiho asked me using lip language.

[Someone is coming, hide in the closet first, and don't make a sound until I come back.] I gently pushed Shiho and let her into the closet, and at the same time pulled out my Magnum gun from my arms and handed it to her. [Keep the gun for self-defense, my guns don't have silencers, don't shoot unless it's absolutely necessary, I'll go out and check the situation.]

[Be careful] Shiho nodded, took the gun and went into the closet.

After closing the closet door, I tiptoed out of the room and closed the door behind me. The whole action made no sound.

As soon as I walked out of the room, I heard a very soft female voice coming from the hall on the first floor.

"Shinichi? Is that you?"

Shinichi? There was only one girl who called Kudo Saku Shinichi. Was it Xiaolan? I leaned against a pillar and looked out of the hall. Sure enough, a slender girl with long flowing hair and purple eyes full of worry appeared in front of me.

Haha, Xiaolan? I smiled. This is the first protagonist I have seen in the "Conan World". Of course, I am talking about the protagonists who don't include Shiho and Akemi.

"Shinichi, are you back?" Xiaolan looked around. I have been doing killer missions for the past ten years, which has given me great training for my night vision. Although Xiaolan and I are more than 20 meters apart, I can clearly see her expression. At this moment, the expression of worry and expectation on her face can be seen clearly without any error.

My eyes were fixed on Xiaolan's face. Unconsciously, I found it hard to look away. What happened? Why did I feel this way when I saw Xiaolan? This feeling was not the heart-pounding feeling I had after seeing Shiho. It was another kind of emotion that I couldn't describe. If I had to put it into words, that feeling was more like seeing a relative I hadn't seen for a long time...

After being distracted for a moment, I looked at Xiaolan again, and with the help of the weak light, I found a glimmer on Xiaolan's chest. What was that?
Xiaolan was still walking forward, slowly, she walked to a place where the moonlight shone into the room. Through that faint light, I could see Xiaolan's whole appearance clearly. Fair face, delicate features, dark brown long hair vertical to the waist, scattered and slightly slanted bangs with a little fluffy feeling, making this girl look delicate and charming. The lavender eyes exude a warm breath from the inside out. The flannel suit of Teitan High School sets off the slender figure of this girl very well. And on the chest of the school uniform, an orchid brooch shines with stars in the faint moonlight.

Orchid brooch? I don’t remember Xiaolan wearing something in the original painting? I was also slightly stunned when I saw the brooch. Brooch? Orchid? Orchid…

hum! ! !
My brain seemed to be struck by lightning, and fragments of memory slowly pieced together in my mind.

"... a faint scent of lavender... I prefer the scent of orchids. The smell of my brother... so warm~" This is... This is my memory before I was six years old. Woo! A sharp pain made me lean against the wall, making a small muffled sound. But it was this faint sound that made Xiaolan, who was on the first floor, feel as if she had heard the sound of nature, and she ran upstairs quickly.

"Shinichi! Are you back?" Xiaolan ran upstairs quickly and turned to look. Unfortunately, there was no one at the place where the sound was just made. There was only an unclosed window in the distance, which made a series of knocking sounds with the breeze.

"Haha. It was my illusion." Xiaolan lowered her head, and her purple pupils gradually dimmed. After a long time, she shouted loudly to the window with reluctance and sadness.

"Stupid Shinichi... where are you... come back soon!!!" Along with the heart-wrenching cry, a crystal teardrop fell on the dusty floor. "My brother left, and you left too, leaving me alone, do you know how sad I am!!!" After saying that, Xiaolan did not stay here, but turned around and ran out. At the moment she turned around, a crystal teardrop fell from the eaves on the place where she just stood. It merged tightly with the teardrop that Xiaolan had just dropped.

That’s right, I jumped onto the eaves with two steps before Xiaolan ran up, and hung on the roof. Looking at Xiaolan’s sad face below, I felt indescribable. That feeling was heartache. . .

And Xiaolan’s next words woke me up from a dream. Yes, Xiaolan said... Brother...

After hearing those two words, my heart trembled violently, accompanied by a severe headache, and the lost memory came to me like a tide. The once broken memory finally appeared in my mind completely.

"Brother always has a faint scent of lavender on him. Although Xiaolan prefers the scent of orchids, every time she smells the scent of brother, Xiaolan feels so warm~"

(End of this chapter)