After becoming a chaotic daughter

Nanako needs a playmate.

Holding the "Children's Education Guide" and studying twelve pages, Edogawa ranpo closed the book, and stuffed the book that Yosano told him to finish into the drawer.

The [-]-page tome is really too thick. Luanbu had the patience to smash Mario with the game console, but he didn't have the patience to finish this obscure and boring academic research while sitting on the office chair.

So he decided to put into practice the first thing he learned from the guide, and then move on to the rest—if he remembered the book by then.

"Nanako!" Leaning on the armrest, he looked down at Nanako who moved a small bench and sat obediently beside his office chair.

Little Radish is concentrating on peeling the oranges. She has completely peeled off the wrinkled orange peels and spread them on the tiled floor at her feet, like an orange starfish.

With her head down, Nanako slowly tore off the white orange network on the flesh, when she heard Ranbu calling him, she raised her expressionless face and stared at Ranbu.

Ranpo has become used to cheap daughter's always clumsy appearance.

Nanako's reaction is a bit slow, it takes a few seconds for others to understand what others say, and she can only use short sentences when answering, and the pronunciation is a bit weird, but she is more sensitive to words, especially when compared to There are more complex Chinese characters in katakana, as well as English on billboards and various reminder banners.

It's probably strange for a child to look like this, but Ranpo doesn't care about it, as he himself was a "strange child" when he was a child.

So he used to ask Nanako with great interest, "Do you want to find other children to play with?"

Holding the little tangerine in her hand, Nanako understood what Ranpo said in her mind, a very simple sentence, and now she can understand it in just a second, but she didn't understand why Ranpo asked such a question.

Nanako thought about it, and thought that Ranbu might be telling her to find someone to play with, so she stood up, opened the drawer of Ranbu's desk, found a Rubik's cube from the drawer, took the Rubik's cube and oranges, and ran to the country. Next to Kida's desk.

"Play with me."

She lifted the Rubik's Cube and the orange together, and carried them to Kunikida who was working.

Stopping what he was doing, Kunikida looked at Nanako in bewilderment, and stared at Nanako's dark round eyes, he choked for a moment, not knowing how to answer her, so he turned his blank questioning gaze to Ranpo again.

"No, I'm looking for a kid who is the same age as you to play with! Not Kunikida!"

Holding Nanako by the collar, he carried her back to the small bench from Kunikida's office in random steps, confiscated her Rubik's Cube by the way, broke the little orange in half, put half back into Nanako's hand, and stuffed the other half into his own mouth, and corrected her vaguely:

"Six-year-old, kid... (chewing) is going to play with, six-year-old... kid (chewing)...you're looking for (swallowing)... a kid your age, uh, to play with!"

With the last syllable falling, he also swallowed all the oranges in his mouth.

What he said was intermittent, and Nanako had to listen attentively to distinguish the general meaning, which was to ask her to find children of the same age to play with.

...But where did the "children of the same age" come from?

Apart from her, there are only employees in the detective agency, and the youngest, Kunikida, is 14 years old, more than twice her current age.

Nanako lowered her head and slowly broke off a small piece of orange and stuffed it into her mouth, pretending not to understand what Ranbu said.She also doesn't want to play with six-year-olds, after all, she's not really six.

However, as a novice father who has only been on the job for less than two months, Edogawa Ranpo has already learned the so-called "adult authority" without a teacher before he has mastered the basic skills of fathering children.

He didn't care about Nanako's reaction, or in other words, took Nanako's reaction as a kind of "default permission", and grabbed his little cloak and Nanako's small coat on the back of the chair in random steps. Just like the duck father who took his ducklings out, he took Nanako out with arrogance:

"Go! Dad will take you to the park to find children to play with!"

"Dad... now I have to work."

"Kunikida will call if there is an entrustment. As for the boring paperwork—that kind of thing is not within the scope of Dad's work."

"..."

[It's over, you will be fired. 】

Nanako, who was dragged into the elevator by chaotic steps, took a bite of the orange in her hand, feeling ashamed.

******

Edogawa Ranpo is a person who is not willing to spend his time trying to find his way.

After all, most of the time, there will be people walking by his side, so it is unnecessary for him to write down the road when he was there. A detective's precious mind should not be wasted in such a useless place, so The limited routes he will record are all the places he visits most often on weekdays.

for example:

Dormitory - because I have to go back to sleep every day,

Station - because there are delicious ice cream shops and crepe stands near the station,

Shopping Street and Chinatown - because these two places are the most lively and most suitable for eating, drinking and having fun in Yokohama.

In addition to these places, the small park near the detective agency is also a place he often goes to. He passes by it every day to and from get off work, and there will be many elementary school students at the end of school. When he is bored, he will play with these elementary school students.

Now there is one more reason.

Bring Nanako here to play.

It's not like I haven't brought Nanako to the park before, but Nanako seldom plays with children. As a qualified and good father, Ranbu made up his mind to let Nanako make a good friend of the same age today.

He confidently brought Nanako to the park.

Then saw the empty lot and rides.

It's ten o'clock in the morning on a Monday, the time when an office worker goes to work, a student goes to school, and a three-year-old is supposed to be eating snacks in kindergarten.

The cold wind blew by at the end of November, and the dull sun shone on them, bringing no warmth.Nanako raised her small head, said to Ranpo with a blank face, a flat tone, and no fluctuations in her heart:

"Dad, get back to work."

Edogawa·Famous Detective·Superbly Smart·Ranbu: "..."

It's just that no one comes to the park for the time being... not yet!Even if today is Monday, if you just wait, you will definitely be able to wait for the people who come to the park to play, besides, not all children will go to kindergarten, at most you only need to wait until lunchtime——

"Ah, isn't this Ranpo-kun?"

A woman's voice sounded behind them.

Ranbu took Nanako by the hand, turned around subconsciously, and saw a middle-aged woman wearing thin-rimmed glasses and comfortable casual clothes.

The woman held a four or five-year-old boy with silver-white hair, wearing a mask, and looked at them with violet pupils, probing and curious in his eyes.

"It's been a long time. How is Mr. Fukuzawa doing? Is the business of the detective agency okay? With Ranpo-kun, you should be fine there. I heard that you were commended by the city police a few days ago. It's really amazing." You are becoming more and more famous! Back then, I knew that you would definitely make a name for yourself, little brother Ranbu!"

The woman said quickly, she looked very familiar with Ranbu, she saw Nanako who was holding Ranpo's hand, and asked with a little surprise: "Who is this child?" After answering, he asked himself and answered: "Could it be that when did Mr. Fukuzawa get married?"

"No! This is my daughter! It's not the president's!" Ranbu raised Nanako's little hand and waved it dissatisfied, then looked at the boy who was being held by the woman, "Speaking of which, Ms. Jiang Chuan, this Can the brat lend me a bit?"

Before Ms. Jiang Chuan could understand the first half of his words, she subconsciously answered his question: "Ah, this child, this is my cousin's child, who is just five years old. My cousin came to visit my grandmother, so she took this child Brought it together. Do you need any help from Thorn, Little Ranpo?"

The speed of their conversation was very fast. Nanako didn't finish the first half of the sentence, but the second half of their sentence was over. Before she understood what happened, Ranpo let go of her hand and patted her. Back, said: "Okay, Nanako, Dad found a playmate for you! Let's play!"

"... play?" Nanako was a little confused.

"Okay, Ji, you and your sister go there to play together, auntie and this brother...uncle talk for a while, don't bully my sister." Ms. Jiang Chuan paused, and then told the boy, "Remember not to talk, and don't Take off the mask."

The boy raised his head, glanced at Ms. Jiang Chuan, and nodded. There was some cunning in his purple eyes, but Ms. Jiang Chuan didn't notice this, and was still talking to Ranbu.

"Little Luanbu was just a kid who called me aunt back then. In a blink of an eye, even my daughter is now this old. Time flies. What's your name 'Ms.'? Just call me aunt just like before."

"The president said to use the honorific title for the client—although you are not the client, Aunt Jiang Chuan, but you are also the first person to witness the miracle of a famous detective. How about it, the work of being a stage lighting engineer is going well!"

"Thanks to Ranbu little brother..."

The topic turned more and more to the category that Nanako couldn't understand at all, and was thrown aside by the two "adults". Nanako looked at the little boy in front of him expressionlessly for a while, and the two children looked at each other without blinking. Looking at each other, the only difference is that Nanako's eyes are dark and dull, but the little boy's purple pupils are clear and bright.

Nanako thought for a while, ran away from Ranpo, and ran to the edge of the slide.

All in all, let's fool her first, let Dad feel that she has made friends, and if the goal is achieved, he should go back to the detective agency and continue to work.

She climbed up the slide and looked down, and the little boy followed and stood under the slide, looking up at her.

Nanako slid down the slide, the boy saw her action, climbed up the slide, slid down, got up and stood behind Nanako and followed her.

【……not talking. 】

Nanako looked at him, blinked slowly, and found that this little boy was different from the five or six-year-old children she knew. He was quiet and well-behaved while wearing a mask.

Nanako climbed the rope ladder, and he climbed the rope ladder behind; Nanako jumped on the trampoline, and he followed Nanako; Nanako drilled the tunnel, and he followed Nanako; Nanako sat on the seesaw, and he also took the initiative to sit on the other end of the seesaw .

Tired after running for a while, Nanako sat under the slide to rest, and the two-person slide was side by side, and the little boy also sat under the next slide.

Ranpo and that aunt went to the crepe stand a little further away, probably to buy them crepes.Nanako turned her head and stared at the little boy wearing a mask, and the little boy also turned her head and stared at Nanako.

Nanako: "..."

little boy:"……"

The deserted park was quiet and quiet, not at all like two children playing.

Suddenly, the little boy grabbed his mask and pulled it off.Nanako saw that there were strange patterns painted on both sides of his mouth, which were purple with indirect lines, and it looked as if she had painted them herself with a watercolor brush.

Nanako felt as if she knew why he was wearing a mask.

...After painting, I found that I couldn't wash it off.

She made a reasonable guess in her heart, and then saw the little boy opened his mouth slightly.

"—Called brother brother."

The little boy said to her word by word.

Nanako: "...?"

Nanako looked at the little boy blankly.

little boy:"……?"

The little boy also looked at Nanako in confusion.

"Call, brother, brother."

He repeated it again, but Nanako didn't understand why.

little boy:"……"

After a few seconds of silence, he swallowed, cleared his throat, and said to Nanako:

"stand up."

"...?" Nanako sat on the slide, staring at him motionless, with no light in her swarthy eyes.

"Clap your hands."

"...?"

"Stomp."

"...??"

"Nod and shake your head!"

"...???"

Nanako felt that the little boy was weird. She got up and wanted to find Ranpo in fear, but the little boy reached out and grabbed her arm, and shouted to Nanako impatiently:

"Call me brother——!"

"——What are you doing, Chi!" Ms. Jiang Chuan, who came back with the crepe and Ranpo, felt tight, and ran over in a hurry, separated the little boy from holding Nanako's hand, checked up and down that Nanako was fine, and finally He sternly said to the little boy: "Didn't your mother tell you not to speak!"

Big tears slowly welled up in the clean and translucent purple eyes.

Clutching the mask that had been taken off tightly in his hand, the five-year-old dog Curly Ji froze in place. After staying there for a long time, he finally let out a loud cry.

Woo, woo... woo waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa at—! ! ...his spells are gone, woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo and Mom and ! !

"Spine?... What's wrong with this?!"

Ms. Jiang Chuan frantically comforted the wailing dog Juanji, but she couldn't persuade him, so she could only pick him up and say goodbye to Luanbu, and hurriedly took the child home.

Standing where she was, Nanako scratched her little head in confusion, and looked up at Ranbu.

"……dad?"

Holding Nanako's little hand, he stood on the spot with random steps, squinting at the figure of Ms. Jiang Chuan holding her nephew and going away. After a while, he took out his pocket and took out a pair of black-rimmed glasses. .

He put on his glasses, looked down at Nanako, took them off after a few seconds, put them in his pocket, and handed her the crepe.

"It's nothing—" he said perfunctorily to Nanako.

Nanako didn't care too much, she said "Oh" slowly, lowered her head and took a bite of the crepe in her hand, then raised her face and looked at Ranpo:

"Dad, get back to work."

There were only the two of them left in the park, reluctantly picked up Nanako, and took her back to the detective agency in disorder.