Kazunobu Chiba and Naeko Miike

The romantic relationship between Kazunobu Chiba and Naeko Miike.

Relationship analysis

Chiba being reminded of the younger Miike.

Kazunobu Chiba and Naeko Miike were childhood friends and attended Teitan Elementary together where they both joined the school broadcasting committee (although Naeko only joined because Chiba did). When Naeko was to move away, Chiba wrote down his feelings in a love letter. Naeko wrote her response on the side of a VHS in the committee storage room, hoping Chiba's sweating habit would cause the message "I like you, too" to show up on his hands after grabbing the tape. Unfortunately, Chiba couldn't find the right tape and never got the message.

On the day of his elementary school reunion, Chiba returned to the school and searched for the tape again. With the help of Conan and the Detective Boys, he finally finds the message and heads for the reunion. Unfortunately Naeko doesn't show, and he hears from a former classmate that she said she is "now with the one she loved". Depressed, Chiba immediately leaves and finds a lady traffic cop giving him a ticket. When the officer offers to forget about the ticket since he is a fellow officer, Chiba scolds her for offering to ignore his illegal parking. Chiba leaves with the ticket, but then wonders how the girl knew he was a detective. The officer turns out to be Naeko, who has just been transferred to the police headquarters in Tokyo (working under Yumi) and looks forward to working with the one she loves.

After some time, they met again during a case involving threats that were placed in cars. They forced to investigate the cases together by Detective Boys. Unfortunately, Chiba doesn't recognize who Naeko really is. Their relationship began to improve when Naeko tried to contact Chiba to rescue her when she gets kidnapped. Thanks to the Conan's help, Chiba managed to rescue Naeko and arrest the culprit. However, Naeko was injured while protecting Chiba, forcing Chiba to carry her to the hospital. On the way, Chiba worried about Naeko's bleeding, he tried to cross the red light, but Naeko managed to convince him from breaking the rules; using the same words that Chiba told her in the past. Chiba finally manages to recognize Naeko after hearing those words as his love interest. The two walk towards the hospital, while blushing at the same time.

Chiba and Miike moments

Volume 71: Files 741-742 / Episode 624: A Video Letter of First Love

The first time Naeko Miike introduces herself.

• Chiba feels nostalgic in his old elementary school and wants to wander around. He says that he received a phone call from Naeko asking if he saw her reply to his love letter 13 years ago.
• When Naeko moved away, Chiba wrote down his feelings in a love letter. Naeko wrote her response on the side of a VHS in the committee storage room, hoping that Chiba's sweating habit would cause the message "I like you, too" to appear on his hands after grabbing the tape. Unfortunately, Chiba could not find the right tape and never got the message.
• On the day of his elementary school reunion, Chiba returns to the school and searches for the tape again. With the help of Conan and the Detective Boys he finally finds the message and heads for the reunion. Unfortunately, Naeko does not show up, and Chiba learns from a former classmate that Naeko is "now with the one she loved". Depressed, Chiba immediately leaves and finds a lady traffic cop giving him a ticket. When the officer offers to forget about the ticket since he is a fellow officer, Chiba scolds her for offering to ignore Chiba's illegal parking. Chiba leaves with the ticket, but then wonders how the girl knew that he was a detective. The officer turns out to be Naeko, who has just been transferred to the police headquarters in Tokyo (working under Yumi) and looks forward to working with the one she loves.

Volume 75: Files 790-792 / Episode 659-660: The Joint Investigation with First Love

• Naeko makes her second appearence during a case involving threats that were placed in cars along with Yumi. Ironically, one of the victims happens to be Chiba himself. Naeko hides behind Yumi and continues to blush in front of him.
• However, Chiba remains oblivious to the fact that she is his childhood first love. She is forced into investigating the car cases with Chiba as Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta's plan to get them to confess their love to each other.
• Soon after, a crash occurs and they find a man on the floor with another threat in the person's car. While everybody is investigating the current act of vandalism, Naeko helps out by giving information on the other cases.
• Meanwhile, Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta continue to get Chiba to realize who Naeko really is, but he gets distracted by Conan, who keeps finding more pieces of evidence, and also Yumi, who does not want Chiba to steal her latest friend from her. Chiba comes close to finding out when a gust of wind blows Naeko's hat off, but is interrupted. Naeko feels like he does not remember her at all and calls him a dummy.
• Naeko continues to help with the investigation and they are able to find the culprit. Soon after Naeko takes Chiba home when Chiba remembers that he's seen her before. Naeko, thinking that he realizes she's his first love, is about to say that Chiba is correct when he says that it was from the time where she gave him a parking ticket. Naeko becomes embarrassed that she assumed wrong, but Chiba reveals to himself that he has a feeling who Naeko really is.

Volume 80: Files 847-849 / Episode 731-732: The Ex-Boyfriend Living Next to a Crime Scene

Naeko's childhood best friend, Sakurako Yonehara finds a corpse in the house where she works as a housemaid. She calls Naeko, who is on patrol with Yumi at that time; they head to the house while waiting for division 1 officers to come. While investigating the the case, Chiba manages to recognize Sakurako but still not Naeko, to her disappointment.

Volume 89: Files 942-944 / Episode 847-848: Chiba's Difficult UFO Case

• Naeko is the one who sent the package containing reports about the consequences of obesity to Chiba, and she plans to send him a tape with steps to follow an 8-hour diet. She blushes and smiles as she thinks about it. Although unaware of who sent that package, he finds the package extremely helpful, as he is enjoying losing weight.
• When Naeko saw Chiba become a lot skinnier, she blushed and smiled without any policewoman noticing. However, when her colleagues start showing some interest in Chiba, Naeko feels relieved once his body size is back to normal again because they are not interested in him anymore.

Volume 95: Files 1013-1014 & Volume 96: Files 1015-1017 / Episode 971-974: The Target is the Metropolitan Police Traffic Department

• While looking for a suitable partner for his next stakeout, Yumi suggests Naeko for Chiba. The latter still does not recognize Naeko and tells her, to her embarrassment (as they are of the same age), that it would look like an inspector with a middle school girl.
• After getting kidnapped by the culprit, Naeko tries to contact Chiba so he could come to her rescue. Unfortunately, her suspicious actions are noticed by the culprit, and he takes her phone away.
• Chiba manages to rescue Naeko and arrest the culprit. However, Naeko is injured in her right leg while protecting Chiba from a bowgun arrow (which is a trap that the culprit set up for the officer coming to rescue her), forcing Chiba to carry her to the hospital on his back.
• While on their way to the hospital, Chiba comes across a red light with no one around. Worried about Naeko's bleeding, Chiba tries to cross, but Naeko orders him to refrain from doing that, by using the same words that Chiba used 13 years ago.
• Chiba finally manages to recognize Naeko after hearing those words. Naeko responds simply by giving him a hug and telling him that it took him way too long. The two then continue towards the hospital, both blushing.

Volume 98: Files 1043-1046 / Episode 1033-1035: Taiko Meijin's Shogi Board

• When Yumi teases Chiba and Naeko of them being buddy buddy, Chiba says that he and Naeko just had a big fight over some trifle differences. Naeko contends, annoyed, that Chiba should not have laughed and made fun of her when she put cream stew on top of rice. Chiba says that nobody does that to rice, to which Naeko responds that there is no difference when it is in Chiba's stomach. Yumi watches on, and is annoyed by their love dovey act.

Movie 25: The Bride of Halloween

• After Chiba is kidnapped and rescued from the Russian mercenaries, Naeko is visibly upset and relieved while blushing. She quickly runs up to him and hugs him while crying relieved that he is unharmed, Chiba embarrassed by this display, blushes and quickly exits the room with Naeko.

Trivia

• The Chiba/Miike couple is one of the many couples that met in childhood, but with some major differences to the main childhood couple: Shinichi/Ran. Miike was transferred to another school in their sixth year and they haven't seen each other for 13 years.
• Naeko prepare Bento for Chiba according to the LOVE PLUS Super Digest Book.

Gallery

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  Chiba is reminded of the younger Miike.

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  Chiba and Miike, in the 52th OP of the series.

See also

• Kazunobu Chiba
• Naeko Miike
• Ninzaburo Shiratori and Sumiko Kobayashi
• Wataru Takagi and Miwako Sato
• Shukichi Haneda and Yumi Miyamoto