Idol's Peril 10

The way someone sat around you denoted the way they felt about you. Kogoro faintly recalled someone saying that to him once.

Take someone who sat in front of you, for example. Whether they leaned back on their seat, or leaned forward and rested their elbows on the table, or sat up straight in a textbook good posture; they all had different meanings if you delved into it.

In this impromptu date with Fuyuki Natsume, however, Kogoro was a bit stumped by the other person's contradictory gestures. She sat in what he would describe as 'I don't care about you' posture, but the fixated way her eyes followed him was the kind he dubbed as 'I only care about you' gaze. Then, Fuyuki paced her words like it was a business meeting, but the content of her sentences were filled with the passion of a newly reunited long lost lover.

Frankly speaking, it was a bit unsettling. All of the women in Kogoro's life had a little bit of an unhinged side to them, but Fuyuki easily took the cake.

Still, a hot woman was a hot woman. No matter how crazy she was, Kogoro would still try to tame her first. Who knew, maybe he could change her for the better!

'...why do I feel like I just pressed a button with the label Yandere MILF on it?'

After he thought about it, Kogoro shrugged.

'Whatever happens, happens...'

***

"...My daughter Yukino is also like that! I see, no wonder she didn't like it when I sent her on an outing with the family friend's child."

Fuyuki laughed lightly, and Kogoro had to admire the effort and dedication that went into maintaining her sophisticated but warm persona. Their conversation went from the tense and formal matters, to the casual stuff from their day to day lives.

They exchanged their parental principles, and Kogoro was quick to notice Fuyuki's obsession on controlling her daughters. She mentioned how she 'advised' her youngest daughter to mingle more with the children of their family's friends. With how imposing Fuyuki was, her daughter probably did as she was told out of fear.

When Kogoro mentioned how stunting it was to her daughter's social ability by comparing it to how he mostly let his daughter pick her own friends, Fuyuki just laughed at the jab, and never let the conversation stall despite her feelings on the subject.

Kogoro replied, "Well, I am not an expert on parenting, so don't take my words. But if you give her some leeway on things that she is not insistent about, your daughter will take it as a token of trust, and she will be willing to compromise on aspects in which you are sure of what is better for her."

At that, she was silent for a moment, before her lips tugged into a gentle smile. It was forlorn, but she regained her composure in a blink of an eye.

"I think you are right, Mouri-san." The wavering in her words was as clear to him as it was to her.

***

The yawn Kogoro let out early in the morning was particularly strong. He was never someone who needed to 'gather his soul' before he started his days, but his packed schedule yesterday was further expanded by the spontaneous but necessary activities. Of course, all of that messed up Kogoro's sleeping pattern.

FIrst was the ‘date’ Kogoro had with Fuyuki. He was supposed to meet Yoko Okino to officially end their contract, but Fuyuki had been very persuasive in her attempt to make him stay and chat with her. He had to reschedule his meeting with Ms. Yoko to the next day.

Next was of course dumping all of the legal matters to his wife Eri. Kogoro had to go all the way to her old law firm because she said her fax machine was under maintenance.

After that, Kogoro had his weekly streaming session with Yuko. Their followers were from two very distinct demographics, and they had to collaborate frequently to raise their influence on the people with the same gender as themselves. The stream started with a fumble, and they had to continue streaming until eleven o’clock before the number of viewers reached their target of five thousand.

Now, Kogoro was in a strange state, where he was not particularly tired, but still too sleepy to do sudoku.

With a cup of coffee in his hand, the mustache gentleman opened the curtain of his room. It was still early, but Kogoro figured that he wouldn't get anything done if he were to stay asleep.

Kogoro took a sip of the bitter liquid of life, and picked up his phone from the charging dock. He opened his contact list, and made a call to Yoko Okino’s private number. She evidently took her time picking up the call, and he was tickled by how she still used her former idol group’s old song as a ring-back tone.

After a while, Kogoro heard the click, and Miss Yoko greeted him.

“Good morning! … Yes, I am free today- No, I haven’t accepted any new cases yet… Of course! I’ll wait for you at the agency- No, no need to bring anything, hehe, we are not planning on a date, Yoko-san!... I know, I know… Okay, I’ll be waiting then- see you!”

Putting his phone down, Kogoro took a deep breath, and went to prepare for his meeting.

‘Let’s see if I can persuade you to join Rising Star, now!’

Kogoro took one last glance outside the window, then slightly dragged the curtain back a few inches from their original position.

***

Just outside, across the Mouri Detective Agency, on the top of a building adjacent to the new Rising Star Talent Agency HQ, was a blonde woman dressed in a black bodysuit. She leaned her model-like figure against the railing, her ears covered by a headphone connected to the laptop sitting on the floor. A binocular was hanging from her neck, no longer useful now that the target of her observation was no longer visible from outside of the building.

From the face she was making, anyone could make out her apparent confusion.

‘There were reports regarding his change, and how his improbable rise on the organization danger list started after he took in a small kid with a facial structure similar to one of our targets, Shinichi Kudou… Could those reports be wrong?’

She was so deep in thought, that she missed one important detail: before he turned around, her target had glanced at her direction.

~To Be Continued~

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