The movie continued, and the faint sound of a dragon's roar echoed through the hallway.
Fujino leaned against the wall, quietly waiting for the people of Mifune Town to appear.
At that moment, the door to the air conditioning room at the end of the hallway was pushed open.
Furuhashi Minoru stepped out and immediately noticed Fujino.
He was surprised at first but then forced a stiff smile and asked curiously, "Hey, kid, what are you doing here?"
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Fujino slowly lifted his head, his dark eyes meeting Furuhashi Minoru's gaze. "Mr. Furuhashi, what are you doing here?"
Furuhashi Minoru was caught off guard by Fujino's counter-question.
He scratched the back of his head and nervously averted his gaze. "I felt the AC was too cold, so I came to check on it..."
"Checking the air conditioning during a movie?" Fujino pushed up his glasses, cutting to the chase. "Mr. Furuhashi, were you planning to commit murder?"
Furuhashi Minoru's body tensed, his eyes wide with disbelief.
He struggled to hide his panic, forcing a laugh. "Haha, kid, what are you talking about? Why would I want to kill anyone?"
"Is that so?" Fujino stepped closer to Furuhashi. "If I'm not mistaken, your plan was to use mirrors to redirect the movie's light and switch windows, then use buying tea as an excuse to get Yuriko out of the way, creating an alibi. And the person you wanted to kill must be that guy, Zhang Tian, sitting in front of the projection window, right?"
"Who… exactly are you?"
Furuhashi was confused as to how his murder plan had been exposed, and so completely at that.
Under Furuhashi's stunned gaze, Fujino calmly said, "My name is Fujino. Just a detective here to watch a movie with some kids."
"Fujino..."
Furuhashi suddenly remembered where he'd heard that name before.
The young man in front of him was none other than the famous detective Fujino...
Now it made sense why his murder plan had been seen through so easily.
It turned out he had run into a famous detective while trying to commit murder…
No wonder.
Realizing this, he let out a bitter laugh, almost mocking himself. "No wonder you seemed familiar. You're a famous detective... It's pretty ridiculous to try and commit a crime in front of a detective."
He sighed and then continued, "You're right. I wanted to kill Zhang Tian, and the method is exactly as you described."
"That wretched guy caused our customers to dwindle. Just yesterday, he was the only one who came to see the movie. As the projectionist, I've had to witness this depressing scene over and over... I told myself countless times not to do it, but I couldn't hold back any longer!"
His tone grew more agitated as he spoke. "I wanted to kill him, just to make him experience the same miserable, lonely feeling..."
"Even if you kill him, you can't stop these things from happening."
Fujino spoke sternly, "Today is this theater's last day of operation. Do you really want to commit murder in front of those kids?"
Hearing this, Furuhashi froze.
After a brief pause, he bowed to Fujino. "Thank you, Detective Fujino. If not for you, I might have made a terrible mistake today."
"Good. That's more like it."
Fujino nodded in satisfaction. After a moment, he added, "Honestly, rather than using such a complicated method, it would've been easier to just stab him while he's walking home at night."
"Huh?"
Furuhashi looked at Fujino in surprise.
Did this detective just suggest a method for murder?
No way, right?
"Just kidding," Fujino chuckled and shook his head. "Go play the movie properly. Someone like him will get his comeuppance sooner or later."
...
Back in the theater, just as Fujino sat down, he heard Mitsuhiko say, "Do you guys feel like it's getting colder in here?"
"It does seem that way," Conan nodded in agreement.
Fujino looked up at the central air conditioner blowing cold air. "Maybe the air conditioner is just old and malfunctioning."
Though the murder hadn't happened, the AC that Furuhashi had prepared for the murder still hadn't been turned off.
Suddenly, Fujino's thoughts were interrupted by something soft leaning against his arm.
Looking down, he saw Haibara Ai resting her head on his arm, sleeping peacefully.
Her porcelain-like face was flushed pink, soft and delicate like a doll.
Fujino took off his bulletproof jacket and draped it over Haibara. The jacket, besides being bulletproof, was also great for keeping warm.
"Hey, Fujino, can we switch seats?"
Conan, suddenly feeling the urge to use the bathroom, turned to Fujino and whispered, "Ayumi seems to have fallen asleep… I need to go to the restroom..."
Before he could finish, he noticed that Fujino was dealing with a similar situation.
"Haibara's asleep too..." Fujino glanced at the sleeping Ayumi and then calmly looked at Conan's jacket. "It's pretty cold in here. Ayumi might catch a cold if she sleeps like that..."
"Uh..."
Conan, flustered by Fujino's calm gaze, suddenly felt a little...
Conan blushed.
Conan: It's a little leaky.
Reluctantly, he took off his jacket and placed it over Ayumi.
Then Fujino gently lifted Ayumi and placed her in the seat next to him.
Conan, wearing only a short-sleeved shirt, shivered in the cold air as he made his way to the restroom.
...
The second movie ended.
As planned, Fujino and the Detective Boys were invited by Matsumura Akio to the lounge for lunch.
While eating their boxed lunches, Mitsuhiko brought up the fact that the theater was going to be demolished the next day. "Is this theater really going to be torn down tomorrow?"
"Yes." Matsumura Akio nodded. "Tomorrow we'll sign the contract, and then the demolition will begin."
"Can't you avoid tearing it down?" Genta said sadly. "There are so many movies we still haven't seen."
"Yeah..." Ayumi agreed, nodding.
"There's nothing we can do about it," Yuriko said with a bitter smile. "If you want to blame someone, blame Zhang Tian. We could have managed to stay open if it weren't for him, but ever since he targeted us, our business has been getting worse and worse... Today, you kids were the only ones who came to see a movie."
"That's not entirely fair. Even before he showed up, the number of customers had been declining," Matsumura Akio said with his head down. "Small theaters like ours can't compete for new movies. Nowadays, TV and video recorders are widespread. Trying to make a living from movies is outdated; maybe we were doomed to fail from the start."
"That's not true!" Ayumi suddenly said. "I love watching movies!"
"I love movies too!" Genta spread his arms wide. "The screen is so much bigger than a TV, and watching it doesn't get me in trouble with my mom."
"Exactly," Mitsuhiko nodded. "The atmosphere of watching a movie is totally different from watching TV or videos. It brings everyone together..."
Fujino quietly ate his lunch, watching the kids with a hint of fondness in his eyes.
These kids weren't so bad sometimes.
If only they weren't so reckless.
(End of Chapter)