After watching enough fun, Kazawa left the Kudo residence. His bag was stuffed full—with high-tech mini-inventions sponsored by Dr. Agasa, a signed copy of Yusaku Kudo's new novel, and most importantly, his phone was now filled with videos of Conan being dragged by Yukiko into a crash course in acting, tearfully and sweetly calling out "Onii-chan~" in a cutesy voice. It could be said he returned with a full load.
Under Kazawa's curious questioning, Kudo Yukiko demonstrated her disguise and voice-changing skills that could only be described as magical. Kazawa watched with eyes wide in excitement, even to the point of begging for an encore.
Zaima! KID! Hurry up and send a notice letter already! I'm definitely going to freeload off your disguise technique!
They had agreed to send Conan back to the Mouri Detective Agency the next day under the pretense of boarding. Kazawa politely declined the invitation to dinner, leaving the space for the rare family reunion, and walked back to the café on his own.
It was another sunset hour. Kazawa pulled his coat tightly around him and looked toward the red sky, thinking of the evenings before he transmigrated. He rolled his wheelchair along the quiet neighborhood road, heading into the crimson horizon, and suddenly felt—dying at this moment might not be so bad.
The world was silent, like the ending of an old film—just like this, walking into the blazing afterglow, with "The End" playing across the screen.
Thinking that, Kazawa picked up his phone and opened the camera. Looking at the sunset through the viewfinder, he pressed the shutter.
But at the very moment he tapped, he suddenly noticed something strange—the thumbnail in the bottom left corner, showing the most recent photo in the gallery, was an unfamiliar image.
Kazawa paused for a second and opened the photo album.
He had checked this phone thoroughly when he got it. There had been no previously saved content—completely blank. Now there were only traces of his own usage. There shouldn't be anything unfamiliar.
After tapping it open, he found it was a picture attached to an automatically downloaded email. Yet, strangely, there had been no new email notification today…
Kazawa realized this was serious. He quickly tightened his expression to avoid revealing anything, while his heart skipped a beat.
The image was a schematic diagram. It used simple geometric shapes to outline a bag, with a red circle marking a spot on the handle.
The original Kazawa had come from Kyoto. All personal belongings had already been taken away. Even the clothes he wore had been changed into a school uniform in advance. The only thing that truly belonged to the original was the commuter bag he always carried.
At the time of the incident, the original was on his way home from school—he had that bag on him when he was arrested. After changing into prison clothes, the bag and his original clothes were locked in a storage locker. Once the case was over and he was released, they were returned to him.
The contents had definitely been thoroughly searched. But since everything had happened so suddenly for Kazawa, the person who planted it probably assumed he wouldn't carry anything important on him—so they'd left the bag untouched. Just like that, hidden in plain sight, it followed Kazawa to Tokyo.
Kazawa tightened his grip on the bag without showing anything on his face. He swiped his thumb and permanently deleted the image from the photo album.
He guessed the original probably didn't even know about this. Otherwise, the image wouldn't have suddenly appeared only now.
"So this is what psychology scholars are like? Everything is pre-calculated?" Kazawa sighed, thinking of the original parents' profession.
If this really was a hidden clue left by the original's parents… then what was the trigger for the automatic email to be sent?
They probably… weren't coming back.
Kazawa's hand quietly moved along the commuter bag's handle, secretly searching for the spot marked in the diagram. Between several layers of tough fabric, his fingers touched a small hard object—a flat piece about the size of his fingertip.
No more than 1 cm wide. If not deliberately pressed, it would go unnoticed. Kazawa had carried this bag all this time and hadn't discovered it until now.
So this was what the Organization had been looking for.
Kazawa narrowed his eyes. Originally, his plan to infiltrate the Black Organization had just been a rough idea—a way to turn defense into offense. But now, the other half of that possibility had fallen right into his hands.
"I'll make good use of it," Kazawa said quietly, pressing his palms together in a silent prayer. He sincerely wished that the original's family could reunite in another world.
The next day, along with Conan's return, came a plump Edogawa Fumiyo and a 10 million yen check.
She gave way too much, and naturally, the little rascal officially moved into the Mouri household.
If you're asking about the result of Yukiko's training—
"Kazawa-nii~!" Conan ran into the café with a bright smile, holding a novel. His tone was high-pitched and syrupy sweet—so sweet it made your skin crawl. Kazawa had to resist the urge to cover his ears.
"I came to read books with you!"
The seemingly innocent boy dashed past Amuro, who was serving drinks. Amuro only gave a gentle warning: "Don't run in the store, you might bump into something." He let the child pass without suspicion.
Perfect. A total success.
Kazawa strongly suspected that Yukiko's "secret technique" was basically: fake a dumb smile, shout loudly, and be as nauseating as possible.
It made his hair stand on end.
But on the surface, Kazawa had to keep up a kind and friendly smile as he caught Conan, who dove headfirst into his arms. "Don't disturb the store's business, okay? I'll take you upstairs to read."
Ouch!
That headbutt landed right on Kazawa's soft belly, and he felt like his entire body had been rattled.
This brat was definitely taking revenge. Damn it, all he did was record a couple of embarrassing videos!
Gritting his teeth silently while maintaining a smile, Kazawa quickly pulled Conan upstairs to the attic.
"That seriously hurt…" Kazawa muttered through clenched teeth.
Conan leaned in and asked, "So… are you going to delete the video?"
Kazawa rubbed his stomach and said, "Nope. I'm backing it up twice. Maybe I'll send it to Mouri-san to watch later."
Conan wasn't fazed by the threat. Although the video didn't expose his identity or connection to Yukiko, the fact that it was shot in the Kudo residence was already suspicious. Kazawa might joke about teasing him, but he wouldn't truly endanger Conan's safety.
So Conan laughed confidently, flashing his eight little teeth.
Kazawa, of course, saw right through his bluff. He grinned slyly, pulled out his phone, and played a carefully trimmed audio clip:
"Beep—Oneechan hello~"
Conan's expression twisted instantly.
Kazawa tapped it again.
"Beep—Oneechan hello~"
You thought you were safe just because the video wouldn't be sent? Naive!
Kazawa raised his arm, using his pure height advantage to keep the flailing Conan from deleting the evidence. Inside, he was in a very good mood. He even thought—once a certain spicy hot mom makes her appearance, maybe this precious clip could come in handy again.
"Stop! Don't play it again! I was wrong, I was wrong!"
Defeated once again, Conan finally gave in and sat down on Kazawa's bed with a huff, mumbling, "I knew Ran was wrong about you. You're the worst."
Kazawa grinned, flashing his own row of eight teeth. "Still want to read, Conan-kun?"
"Hmph." Conan turned his head away in annoyance, but after a moment of silence, he mumbled, "Thanks."
"Hm?" Kazawa blinked, confused.
"I said, about yesterday… thanks," Conan said awkwardly. "Even though it turned out to be a false alarm, I still appreciate it."
After learning some things about the Organization from his father yesterday, Conan became more aware of the risks Kazawa had taken. If they had been facing a real Organization member, Kazawa's move would've been no different from flying straight into the fire.
He had already paid a huge price once for stepping forward—and nearly lost his whole life.
Seriously…
"Not sure what you're getting all sentimental about, but sure—you're welcome," Kazawa said with a smile, ruffling Conan's hair until it was a total mess.
That smile was just like a kindly old farmer petting his corn. Full of love.
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