(Double Chap)
Conan massaged his still-aching forehead, his expression grim, as he silently updated his mental profile of the Black Organization.
But something else was bugging him too.
"…Did Kenzo Masuyama show the police the purple commemorative handkerchief?"
Yesterday, when the handkerchief was being examined, Inspector Megure had followed Shinichi Kudo's anonymous tip to hunt down Gin and Vodka. He hadn't been in the interrogation room. Then came the fire, and the discovery of a charred corpse… One thing after another kept Megure too busy to track the details.
So, when Conan asked him about the handkerchief's condition this morning, the inspector first had to consult his subordinates before calling back.
The result made Conan's pupils narrow slightly: "Kenzo Masuyama had the handkerchief."
At the same time, the morning news played footage of Masuyama pointing a gun at a chandelier.
…But that meant the commemorative handkerchief he'd received should've flown out with the shot—and shouldn't have been recovered.
Yet when questioned by police, he'd somehow produced one.
…Someone had given him theirs?
Conan's mind raced through the names. There had been seven people total who received purple handkerchiefs at the party. Pisco was one of them. Subtract him, and six remained. Among them, one was probably a hidden Organization member.
Just as Conan hit this deduction, someone knocked on Professor Agasa's door—twice—then let themselves in.
It was Jiangxia.
Conan turned to look and instinctively nodded in greeting.
Then a thought hit him, and he froze mid-turn.
Jiangxia stepped in, looking around for the cat. He spotted Conan first, still here instead of back at the Mouri Detective Agency.
Conan stood there with a phone in one hand and his bowtie voice changer in the other. Their eyes met.
Then Conan awkwardly turned and strolled away like a child pretending to be innocent in a crime scene reenactment.
Jiangxia didn't need to ask anything. Xiaobai had already floated over and latched onto the receiver, eavesdropping with the ease of a seasoned gossip.
Soon, the spirit cat relayed back: Conan had been asking Inspector Megure about the purple handkerchiefs—and had even, somewhat hesitantly, asked whether Jiangxia had one last night.
...Not bad, detective.
Jiangxia, who did have a backup handkerchief, remained entirely unbothered. He waved a hand at Xiaobai to keep listening and report if anything interesting came up.
Meanwhile, he intercepted a long, narrow cat that had somehow escaped its carrier and was slinking toward the front door. He scooped it up, patted it a few times, and sat on the sofa to wait for food. Someone else's cat, someone else's food. Life was good.
Haibara Ai peeked out from the kitchen.
Seeing that it was Jiangxia—and a very normal, healthy-looking Jiangxia without even dark circles—she let out a small sigh of relief and returned to cooking.
So this whole "assassinate Councilor Nomiguchi" mission really had nothing to do with him? Pisco was dead, and yet Jiangxia hadn't been punished at all by the Organization…
But still, something felt off.
Maybe it was her imagination, but Haibara kept feeling like the people and missions Jiangxia got involved in, and the intel he had access to, weren't what you'd expect from a low-level operative.
The familiar presence of the Organization in the living room made her spine prickle.
But then she peeked through the door crack again and saw Jiangxia lounging on the sofa, intently petting a cat.
Her gaze softened without meaning to.
…I'm probably just overthinking it. No executive has time to accept cat-catching commissions every week.
Besides, Professor Agasa said the person who invited Jiangxia to Director Sakamaki's memorial was a frequent client at his agency. Which meant Jiangxia had a legitimate reason to be there. Just a coincidence. Nothing more.
And as for the sheer amount of information he seemed to know—maybe he'd simply figured it out on his own. Jiangxia did have talent in that area.
Haibara stopped herself from spiraling.
After what happened yesterday, she understood that even if she did discover some shocking truth about Jiangxia, she wouldn't be able to do anything with it—other than panic. And worse, she might even bring him more trouble.
But luckily, she wasn't just a powerless scientist anymore.
She'd passed the test even Kudo couldn't pass. She'd officially joined the Anonymous organization.
Maybe, just maybe, she could grow stronger within it—and finally do the things she'd been unable to do before.
Haibara clenched her fist with determination, recalling the graceful way Miss Anonymous struck people mid-fight. She took advantage of the moment when no one was in the kitchen, raised her hand, and whispered, "Anonymous will definitely make me stronger."
—
In the living room, Jiangxia suddenly sneezed.
He rubbed his nose, paused, and checked himself for symptoms.
Nothing.
He looked down at the long, narrow cat in his arms. "Are you shedding?"
The cat gave him a sideways look, yawned with bared teeth, and curled up in his arms with the air of a cat too lazy to care about your nonsense.
So lazy, yet you run away from home every day. Not easy being a cat these days.
Jiangxia rubbed the cat's head sympathetically.
—
After wrapping up his secret call with Inspector Megure, Conan finally looked back at Jiangxia—expression calm again.
The report said Jiangxia had indeed handed over a purple commemorative handkerchief when questioned.
Which meant… he hadn't been the one who gave his to Pisco.
So Jiangxia wasn't the accomplice.
Conan let out a quiet sigh of relief, unsurprised by the conclusion.
He wasn't sure why he'd suspected Jiangxia in the first place. But now, thinking back, maybe it was just part of the normal detective process—eliminate suspects one by one. Everyone gets their turn under the spotlight before the truth is found.
He nodded to himself, successfully rationalizing his earlier suspicion as nothing but good ol' logical deduction.
Inspector Megure had also mentioned that two celebrities had lost their handkerchiefs… Conan nibbled at his tasteless lunch while mentally flipping through the bios of those two.
He wanted to identify which one was the hidden Organization member who had helped Pisco.
And there were others, too—those who had left the venue early after receiving handkerchiefs. It was possible one of them had passed theirs to Pisco before slipping away.
—
Jiangxia quietly studied Conan's face from across the room.
No dramatic acting. No "I'm watching you" eyes.
Which meant… the suspicion had truly passed.
Meanwhile, Haibara Ai seemed oddly distracted while cooking today. The dishes were way too salty.
She definitely tasted it herself, because halfway through the meal, she put down her chopsticks in silence and got up to brew tea for everyone—trying to make up for it with beverages.
Jiangxia picked up his tea and was about to take a sip when—
Bang bang bang—the front door burst open, followed by a chorus of voices and hurried footsteps.
The Detective Boys had arrived.
—
"Remember, you promised to take us to see the new Gomera movie!"
Professor Agasa froze in place, then awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
…He had completely forgotten.
Noticing Jiangxia glance curiously toward the doorway, seemingly interested in the kids' discussion, Haibara Ai leaned over and explained quietly:
"A while ago, the kids helped the Professor decode a postcard and reconnect with his first love. He promised to take them to a movie to thank them, but..."
"But I forgot I have a conference," Professor Agasa admitted, sheepish. "I've got a business trip to Kyushu this week. I leave this afternoon... How about next time?"
The three children looked devastated. Faces fell, lips pouted. The air was thick with imminent protest—an adult had broken his promise. Again.
Just then, a voice chimed in from nearby:
"I could take them, if that's alright. I happen to be free."
The moment the familiar voice drifted in, the three children froze in perfect unison.
Then, like synchronized swimmers turning underwater, they slowly swiveled toward the source.
Sure enough—it was Jiangxia.
Their faces paled.
…Go to the movies with him?
No thank you.
Conan and Haibara Ai had said many times that Jiangxia didn't hit children. But the kids weren't dumb—and more importantly, they were observant. Every time those two said it, their eyes would shift away, and their tone would go all vague and uncertain. Clearly, even they weren't convinced.
The Detective Boys had witnessed Jiangxia's fighting prowess one too many times. They had no intention of being around when that power got "accidentally" redirected at them.
Unfortunately, Professor Agasa had forgotten this tiny yet crucial detail. Delighted by the offer, he beamed. "Perfect! You guys are closer in age anyway. You'll probably have more in common than with an old guy like me, hahaha."
The three kids raised their tiny hands in protest, looking like they were about to weakly object—
"No..."
"No? Why not?" Jiangxia stood and approached them with a light smile. "Avoiding me? That would make me so sad."
"…"
As he drew closer, the three children instinctively huddled together, like ducklings facing a thunderstorm. You could almost see the gears turning behind their eyes.
Sad = bad mood = ?? = pain
Their memories offered a helpful reel of footage: the librarian screaming in the dead of night; the psychologist with a gun writhing on the pavement after a single kick; bandits in that old western-style mansion shrieking as they tumbled down stairs—
…Okay, that last one wasn't Jiangxia's fault. But that wasn't the point. The point was:
They were terrified of him.
They had this gnawing feeling that if they said no, one day they'd be walking home from cram school, only to get ambushed and beaten inside a sack.
Even if they hadn't done anything wrong, adult society didn't seem to think they were innocent little angels.
Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko, most corrupted by adult logic, surrendered first.
He forced a stiff smile. "No, no! We love watching movies with Brother Jiangxia. Really! It's, uh, the best."
Yoshida Ayumi and Kojima Genta bobbed their heads beside him like nervous chickens pecking seed.
Jiangxia gave a warm, benevolent smile and patted each of them gently on the head.
"Great," he said. "Then I'll come pick you up after school."
Conan: "…"
For a brief moment, he genuinely didn't know who to feel sorrier for—Jiangxia, the social outcast of the bear child world, or the Detective Boys, who had just signed away their afternoon in fear.
That said, Jiangxia really did seem to like children.
Even if the children didn't like him back.
But with time, surely the Detective Boys would realize that Jiangxia wasn't the kind of person who hit kids. Probably. As long as they didn't break the law… probably.
—
After bidding farewell to a very cheerful Professor Agasa and three despairing little victims, Jiangxia—as per his usual routine—skipped class and headed to the agency.
Still no ghost-picking cases in the mailbox.
Instead, he spent another day ferrying cats around. At least it paid.
No missions, no shikigami, no new ghosts. A total bust, productivity-wise.
But Jiangxia remained calm. Because the day wasn't over.
—Thankfully, he'd run into the Detective Boys earlier that morning. And wherever those children went, death often followed.
Sure enough, by the time school let out, Jiangxia had already donned his helmet and was riding his motorcycle toward Teitan Elementary with a spring in his step.
He carried a movie theater map, carefully marked with all nearby cinemas. He'd let the kids choose which one to visit—following their infamous "murder radar."
Before the movie, he planned to treat them to a meal. He remembered reading that restaurants were hotspots for incidents too.
This was called: maximizing output per bear child event.
Soon, he arrived at the school gates.
Jiangxia parked across the street, leaned on his motorcycle, and looked into the gleaming school building.
Like a lion patiently waiting at the edge of a gazelle migration.
—
Inside Class 1-B.
Conan had just slung on his backpack, ready to go, when three sets of hands slammed him back into his seat.
"Don't leave! We swapped cleaning duty to today just for this! We're supposed to all stand up to Brother Jiangxia together!"
"…" Conan blinked. "I thought you were scared he'd get angry and hit you? Wouldn't ditching him make him angrier?"
"Cleaning duty is a force majeure," Mitsuhiko said solemnly. "As long as we don't tell him we swapped days, he'll never know."
"And if we push the movie back to when Professor Agasa returns," Genta added, "then we can go with him instead!"
Yoshida Ayumi nodded hard. "Exactly!"
Conan stared at them like he was listening to a cult initiation speech.
…Children are terrifying.
Meanwhile, Haibara Ai yawned and checked her watch.
"Well, good luck with that. I've got an experiment to finish."
She slung her bag over her shoulder and waved lazily before exiting the classroom. No time to help children hide from Jiangxia.
Also, she added in her head, why are they even hiding? Jiangxia's not a bad person…
Well. Even if he did do some bad things, he was probably on a mission when he did them.
Which made it slightly more acceptable. Maybe.
—
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 8/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:3/10*