At the main train station he almost lost Yukio in the crowd; only with difficulty did he manage to follow him onto the train to Shinjuku.The shadowed person did nothing suspicious, however, except to use his cell phone every now and then. In Shinjuku they got off the train and Yukio went to one of the glittering skyscrapers that stretched towards the sun in the banking and financial district. Conan had to think back for a moment how he had wandered around here alone and lost a while ago, completely crushed by Ran's rejection. "The days of self-pity are over now, get it?" His mind ruled him. "You are on the hunt!"

They came to the headquarters of Taniguchi Flower Corp. Yukio purposefully walked through the large entrance hall and climbed into one of the elevators. A moment later, Conan told the receptionist that he was the son of a friend of the Taniguchi and that he would like to see the junior. "You'd better go to the top floor, Mr. Edogawa-sama," said the lady with exaggerated respect and made a gesture in Yukio's direction. "The Taniguchis have an apartment there for their private needs.Should I announce it? " "No no! No need. I ... um ... I'd like to surprise him. "

The top floor of the office tower turned out to be one of the most luxurious suites one could imagine in all of Tokyo: The deserted hallway was roofed with glass, through which the autumnal midday sun sent its rays with all its might. A cream-colored carpet spanned the expensive marble and dampened the corridor. Conan took a few steps away from the elevator and couldn't stop being amazed.

He had waited in the lobby for over half an hour before taking the elevator upstairs. Now he was standing here, almost 400 meters above the ground, and it was as if the high-speed elevator had catapulted him into another world: his path was flanked by the most exuberant flower arrangements he had ever seen. Each bouquet stood individually in a glass vase on a base and was subtly illuminated by the wall.The bouquets lined up on the sides like sculptures and seemed to want to outdo each other in terms of color, beauty and elegance. The air was pleasantly fresh, it was a little damp around his nose - as if the whole hallway had been sprayed with a flower shower. Between the arrangements, offset with them, portraits of the previous company managers hung on the walls; it was all Taniguchis. Conan felt like he was in a fantastic gallery.

He was reminded in a peculiar way of the morning when a thick bouquet of red roses was emblazoned on the table in the detective agency. With their sweet, fine mist, the roses had lulled him back then ... He shook himself resolutely. Not again.

A few meters further on, around the next corner, a door was noisily closed. He stalked cautiously and opened the door a tiny crack, then slipped silently inside.

-----

Yukio came back from the next room.He had been in the shower; his flax-colored hair seemed darker than usual and clung to his head. Sparkling drops of water pearled off his skin and ran down his chin, neck and chest. The chiseled contours of his athletic body were wrapped in a burgundy satin bathrobe.

Conan crouched behind a heavy leather couch and never let his competitor out of his sight. He had slipped into the room from the hallway after Yukio had disappeared from the room through a door on the right. The sports gear he had left his apartment in were strewn with sweat next to an exercise bike on the elegant carpeting.

Yukio went to the wall across from Conan's hiding place. He waved his hand and for a moment Conan only saw his back. Then suddenly he looked him straight in the face. Conan looked in disbelief at the bare chest under the silk robe. Yukio hadn't turned to him, hadn't it? After a brief panic, Conan understood - a mirror!Yukio had pushed aside a curtain and Conan's gaze fell on the reflection in the glass, which reached from the floor to almost the ceiling. He looked straight into Yukio's green eyes and quickly backed away. If he got caught now ...

But Yukio took no notice of him. He was so busy with himself or his image that everything else seemed to be forgotten. Yukio pulled the robe off his shoulders and let it flutter to the floor. Finally he stood in front of the mirror, completely naked. After a while, although there was no one else in the room, he began to speak. As if he was communicating with his reflection ...

"So today the big evening has come. After an endlessly long dry spell, I'm finally at my destination. The car will soon be mine. And Sorata can remove make-up from the catamaran ..." What was he talking about? Conan still didn't understand a single word. But for some inexplicable reason he had the feeling that something was wrong with Yukio.Or rather, he has changed a lot, because there was no trace of the former loyal heart.

Outwardly, at any rate, he was the same: still handsome, still young, still flawless. Yukio looked his male figure up and down, then nodded approvingly. Rubbing his hands together, he reached for his shorts, which were on top of a pile of fresh clothes.

"How naive this Ran is! Does she really think I would have approached her that evening? Does she imagine that there was no one more beautiful than her at this ball?" He looked himself in the eyes, then he gave a short laugh and shook his head. As before, his blond head fell over his forehead, as always natural and delightful. "The poor thing! She has no idea why Yukio Taniguchireallylikes her ... In the end, I almost feel sorry for what I'm going to do to her," he said with complete indifference and pulled a pair of socks over his feet.Conan was horrified. What kind of wrong person was he who snatched his girlfriend away from him? What was he up to withhisRan? He would have loved to jump up and kick Yukio's wonderful butt with his power kickboots for what he had just said. But Conan forced himself to calm down: As a skinny little boy, he would not be up to the strong Yukio; besides, he wanted to listen to his mind, didn't he? He continued to listen as if spellbound.

"She probably never asked herself where I came from. Then she swallowed my story in Tropical Land that I switched from Shibuya to Tantei because my performance wasn't right." You know, when it comes to school, unfortunately I'm not a high-flyer. More of a fool ... 'I was just too bad ... "He paused for a moment, seemed to admire himself thoroughly, licked his lips. Then he reached for the pants.“I only changed schools anyway to seduce you.” With a barely perceptible breath, the dark fabric flew up his strong thighs and wrapped itself loosely around his slim waist. "No way of stupid ... Who is so stupid as to switch from one of the most expensive private schools to a completely mediocre suburban high school? I'll be gone from there in a few days anyway. But before that we'll have a little fun!" Yukio put a few drops from a vial into the cupped hand and rubbed the liquid into his muscular chest. After a short time his skin, smooth and pure as it was anyway, took on a shiny sheen, just as if he had treated it with clear lacquer. The sight was breathtaking.

"And this heartwarming tale that I made up for her about my family: A poor, naive fool whose fate means that he will run his father's corner shop for life and sell flowers in old boxes.What was that again? "As he searched his memory, a shirt made of pure silk flowed down his arms and shoulders to his stomach. It shone as brightly as his large eyes, which were of the same color." I will probably just become a simple florist. With a watering can and a green coat, imagine! "He laughed heartily." With that you have outdone yourself, Yukio. Although at first I feared that Ran would find out how things are really going with my family. But the stupid has obviously never heard of the Taniguchis - the owners of the largest floristry company in all of Japan! "During the last few sentences he was visibly boiling: His taut abdominal wall trembled noticeably under the thin fabric. He slipped into his shoes and summed up with sarcasm that sounded like satisfaction:" What luck that she lives so behind the moon. "

Conan couldn't understand any of this, neither as a human nor as a detective.Whydid Yukio do this? To add Ran to his collection as another trophy? To prove to yourself that a beau like him could bewitch every girl in this town? He had said himself that Ran Mori was far from the prettiest girl at the ball. So why did he fall for her then? In the end, did it just happen out of sheer lust for seduction? The crucial piece of the puzzle was still missing. He kept listening.

"At the end of the day, when we were lying by the lake, she finally caught fire. Suddenly everything happens so quickly: I buy her the drink. We lie down. As soon as I have given her the nightshade rose, it falls already over me! "Yukio opened his mouth in mock horror. With gel he straightened his hair, which began to shine like full wheat in a summer field. Then he shook his head in amusement. "Well, actually that was fine with me. After all, the plant wasn't cheap - all the better that this investment paid off so soon.I hardly ever came to my false declaration of love, so promptly she stuck her tongue down my throat ... the little bitch! "At the thought a slippery grin spread on Yukio's face and a damp glow glistened in his eyes.

Conan was disgusted. For a moment his detective coldness left him. Simmering anger and burning jealousy boiled up in him instead.

Anger because Yukio had kissed his Ran without her being worth a single chanterelle to him. And that's not all: He even went so far as to despise her for her passion and to scold a bitch! Conan could have killed him for that.

After all, jealousy because Ran apparently loved Yukio so much that she willingly threw any shyness overboard to show him her feelings. But why had she always been so reticent about Shinichi? Did she love him less