Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [33]

As expected!

Again, it was about Tōma Kazusa—that woman’s damned affairs!

After listening to the overly enthusiastic, suspiciously unreliable detective’s proud report, and combining that with what he’d already read in the tear-stained diary of the original “Hikigaya Ryōhei,” he quickly pieced things together.

Two or three months ago, for whatever reason, the original “Hikigaya Ryōhei” had hired this unknown detective to investigate his wife, who’d started behaving strangely.

Probably at that time, the previous “Hikigaya Ryōhei” had already sniffed something fishy about the person sleeping beside him.

Because back then, when Tōma Kazusa was still at home, she was often absent-minded, eyes wandering vacantly. The two of them had previously enjoyed meals while gazing lovingly into each other's eyes—but now, whenever she talked, she didn't eat; whenever she ate, she didn't talk. She also smelled faintly of cigarettes… and many other such signs.

But intuition was intuition—intuition was not evidence.

He’d also feared that he was just imagining things due to mounting work pressure, worried that bringing it up rashly might hurt his wife.

And then, before Mōri Kogorō had even found anything concrete—there was no need to investigate further—because his wife had voluntarily confessed and asked for a divorce...

After that came all the headaches he’d already uncovered earlier.

"Hikigaya-san, these are all the photos. Following professional ethics, I haven't kept any copies. Please verify them carefully."

Welcoming his valued client into his cramped and impoverished detective agency, Mōri Kogorō loudly called for his daughter to come out and make tea, while he took a thick, sealed bundle of photos from a cabinet.

Speaking of which, even if her moral character wasn’t commendable, Hikigaya-san’s wife really was stunningly beautiful, with a uniquely captivating aura—the type that triggered men’s inexplicable urge to conquer. If she had properly dressed up and debuted, she might’ve even become more popular than Okino Yōko-san! Thinking back to the assignment, Mōri Kogorō couldn’t help but sigh emotionally. His eyes softened as he turned toward Hikigaya Ryōhei, filled with a few extra traces of sympathy.

Eri would definitely never do that to me!

Ryōhei accepted the hefty stack of photos with a dark look, stuffing them immediately into his bag without even a glance.

As if handling something filthy.

"Huh? Aren’t you going to check and confirm them?"

What’s there to look at?!

Ryōhei felt a throbbing pain in his temples, fighting the powerful impulse to rub them forcefully—and perhaps sew shut Mōri Kogorō’s big mouth while he was at it.

He really couldn’t understand why the previous "Hikigaya Ryōhei" would hire such an obviously unreliable detective.

"Dad! What are you saying?! You're troubling Hikigaya-san!"

At this moment, the polite high school girl who had poured tea for Ryōhei quickly scolded her father, before turning around and bowing deeply to their client. "I'm sorry! I’m so sorry! My father speaks a bit carelessly, I hope he hasn't upset you. He didn't mean anything by it!"

"That’s enough. I’ll be going now."

Ryōhei didn't want to linger a second longer in this poor detective agency. The entire place felt uncomfortable, even giving him a chill down the back of his neck.

He was certain it was because of the simultaneous gaze from this father-daughter duo and the elementary schooler wearing black-framed glasses, who was quietly reading a book on the couch.

Their eyes seemed to convey "sympathy," tinged with "pity"... Could it be they all know about my situation already?

Being constantly seen as a cuckold wearing a green hat, Hikigaya Ryōhei was honestly fed up!

"You're leaving already? Alright then! Hikigaya-san, if you ever need anything else, just leave it to me, Mōri Kogorō!!!"

After Ryōhei was escorted downstairs by the slightly embarrassed-looking high school girl, the detective named Mōri Kogorō even opened the second-floor window and shouted toward him.

Hikigaya Ryōhei was truly a big-money client. Over three months ago, when he'd first come to commission the detective, Mōri hadn’t wanted such a simple, boring case. He’d casually thrown out an absurdly high figure, intending to scare him away.

But the gloomy-faced man, practically radiating green from his head, immediately paid the full sum—440,000 yen!—demanding he investigate thoroughly, clearly, carefully!

Once he’d gotten serious, investigating a cheating young wife’s affair was ridiculously easy money for Mōri.

Plus, the subject had been extremely easy on the eyes. It wasn’t his own wife, after all.

Lately, he, his daughter, and that freeloader kid had basically been living off Hikigaya Ryōhei’s money, quite comfortably at that. Occasionally, they even treated themselves to some meat or a pleasant drive out of town.

"Did I... pay a lot of money?" Ryōhei had already walked a few steps away when he suddenly turned his head to ask the high school girl.

"Ah… um… that is..."

Mōri Ran, clearly not adept at lying, avoided his gaze nervously. She was inwardly astonished: Didn’t you know exactly how much you paid yourself?

Recently, she’d even bought two beautiful brand-name dresses.

"Ah, what a wasteful bastard... I'm really unlucky."

Having received his answer, Ryōhei felt drained.

His mood had originally been fine—even the failure of the job interview hadn’t really shaken him.

But right now, if Tōma Kazusa appeared directly in front of him, he’d want nothing more than to slap that charming, beautiful, pale face of hers hard enough to echo.

All that money spent on her—it should've been his!

So damned wasteful!

Other than two hungry mouths waiting to be fed, the original "Hikigaya Ryōhei" hadn't left himself any good things at all.

He’d really gone way too far!

...

Still simmering angrily, Ryōhei forgot to eat lunch entirely.

Only when he reached Beika-chō station did he remember.

As he hesitated about turning back to find somewhere to eat, his phone rang—it was Hikigaya Hachiman’s number.

"Father, some government official just came by," Hikigaya Hachiman spoke unexpectedly hesitantly, carefully choosing his words—very different from his usual chūnibyō self.

"What? Don't tell me you caused some trouble!" Ryōhei snapped irritably.

"No, it’s not about me. It’s... about Aunt," Hachiman replied slowly.

Is what’s coming finally here? Ryōhei’s heart thumped painfully. The original owner of this body indeed had a younger sister, but it had been strange that she hadn't contacted him at all until now. Were they finally going to meet?

He could only hope he wouldn’t be taken as a madman or weirdo.

"That government worker said... Aunt has already passed away," Hachiman said haltingly, pausing cautiously, as if fearing his father might break down.

"Huh? Died?! What happened?! Uh, I mean… how did your Aunt suddenly pass away, what happened exactly? Did the government people explain anything?" Ryōhei started talking, then abruptly realized his tone was too casual and quickly shifted into a more somber, heavy voice.

"They said... it was due to that maritime disaster. You know, the famous one you saw in the newspaper earlier. Aunt and Uncle both passed away because of it... The official left behind some documents and asked you to read them carefully. He didn't say anything else and left."

---

A/N: Don’t get too nervous. Even though it’s Conan fanfiction, it’s not like people die every chapter.

T/N: was actually starting to think of picking up a conan fic to tl, this could be a good way to learn slowly about it! since its not the focus

This is a fan translation of 比企谷大叔永远年轻 by Stargazer All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!