Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

Walking on the streets of Hakodate with his arms folded, Kogoro Mori exhaled cool air and looked around.

A whole day had passed since he arrived in Hakodate, but he still hadn't found any trace of his daughter and Conan. He couldn't get through on the phone, and the teachers at the kendo competition also said they didn't know. He had to find a hotel to rest for the night.

Detective Mori, who hadn't watched the news yet, had no idea about Yuuji's fake death, and certainly didn't take the fact that the children were injured into account.

[Should we go to the police station? ]

He had an impression of Hokkaido. Officer Nishimura was a policeman he met when he was on vacation. If he said hello, he should be able to help find the child.

"By the way...is the public security in Hakodate so strict?"

From time to time, patrolling police officers would pass through the streets on bicycles, and people walking were in a hurry, always carefully observing the intersections.

He took out his cell phone and was about to make a last call, but as soon as he put his hand into his pocket, the phone vibrated and rang at the same time. The uncle hurriedly put the travel bag at his feet and took out his cell phone.

"An unfamiliar phone number?"

Putting the phone to his ear, Kogoro Maori briefly introduced himself and asked if the business was from Tokyo.

"No, no, it's me, Ginzo Nakamori."

"Officer Nakamori? This is your number." Maori Kogoro asked curiously, "But it's different from the number I saved. Did you change your phone?"

"No, this is my subordinate's cell phone, my cell phone..."

Nakamori Ginzo patted his empty pockets and said helplessly, "It seems that the younger generation in the family took it away."

"Really? How much does a cell phone cost? You should be generous and buy one for your child."

Kogoro Mori's words made Nakamori Ginzo a little upset. He clicked his tongue and interrupted Detective Mori who was about to continue speaking.

"Look, we were planning to ask for your help. We actually wanted to call you yesterday, but so many things went wrong that we just finished dealing with it now."

"Ah, it's no problem for me to help you, but I..."

"By the way, your child is here with us too. Luckily, he's not seriously injured. Next time, remember not to let your child out alone."

Nakamori Ginzo took the car keys thrown to him by his subordinates and said, "Don't worry about Kudo-kun. Chief Odagiri called me and said that the child is fine and was rescued by the secret police of the Metropolitan Police Department."

"Ok?"

After hearing Nakamori Ginzo give the name of a hot spring hotel and hang up the phone, Maori Kogoro had not yet processed the huge amount of information and was standing stiff on the side of the road.

No, no, no, aren't his kids here to participate in the National Kendo Tournament? Although it was just a cover, the actual purpose was to cheer for the confession of that Osaka kid from Kansai, but why do I hear it... it feels like these kids are involved in something dangerous again?
"And we have to go to the hot spring hotel to discuss it. Has the police station been put under surveillance?"

Kogoro Mouri picked up his bag, hailed a taxi and went to the hot spring.

……

"I've woken up. Now I have to think about how to get downstairs."

On the way that Kogoro Mori was heading to the inn, Hattori Heiji, who had rested for two hours, finally woke up. Holding his head which was still a little painful due to lack of sleep, he sat on the bed and looked around for any useful items in the room.

The point is not how to go down, but how to take Kudo Yuji out after going down. It is unknown how the criminal who kidnapped the teenager will torture him. Hattori Heiji felt as if he was soaked in cold water just thinking about it.

He had to prepare for the worst, which was that Kudo Yuuji completely lost consciousness, and he would not only have to fight with the gangsters, but also have to carry a person with him who had no help.

Hattori Heiji glanced at the bathroom and put the disposable toothbrush and toothpaste in his pocket. The toothbrush can be used to poke the eyes, and the toothpaste has more uses.

He opened the sliding window in the bathroom and looked at the completely useless window. Hattori Heiji complained about the design that would definitely be seen by others, and carefully pulled out the steel wire inside the sliding window.

Walking to the window, he leaned over and looked down, noting that no one was watching from the roadside across from the hotel. He bent the wire little by little, crossed it, and began to tighten it to increase the tension. "This thickness is about right, and the length is enough for the next floor."

There was no partition in the middle, so it would be enough for him to just be able to reach the downstairs window with half of his body.

He hung one of the three hooks on the window and rolled the other one up on the waistband of his jeans. He took a deep breath and carefully leaned out of the window.

"It's long enough. We also need to see if those guys are in the room."

Hattori Heiji took out his cell phone, turned the camera downward, took a few photos in a row, and then picked it up again.

It seemed that Kudo Yuji was the only one in the room. He sat with his head drooped. Although it was hard to tell what he meant, it was definitely not right. Without giving him time to think, Hattori Heiji kicked open the window and held the window sill with his hands while loosening the wire on his belt.

"Yuji! Yuji!"

Finally they arrived at the room. Hattori Heiji, not daring to speak loudly, quietly walked to Yuji's side, only to find that the boy was sitting in a wheelchair.

[It seems that he was also sitting in a wheelchair at the welcome party for his father? ]

Hattori Heiji walked up to Yuji, helped the boy up, and was shocked.

"You...what have you been through!"

Yuuji's face was a little sunken, and even when he was supported, he could feel that he had no strength. Awakened by Hattori's actions, Kudo Yuuji slowly opened his eyes, which were full of bloodshot.

"Heiji-senpai, am I dreaming? Or are you really here to rescue me?"

The boy sighed, "Will Aunt Yoshimoto's tonic cause hallucinations? Sure enough, something that works so well will have some side effects..."

"What did you say?"

Hattori Heiji patted Yuuji's body in confusion: "Weren't you hit by a car? How come you don't have any external injuries, all internal injuries?"

"When did you say that happened?"

Yuji blinked in confusion: "I was hit by a car a few days ago?"

Yuji, who had his back to the window, turned his head slightly and found that the sky outside was orange-red, and he was filled with emotion.

“What a beautiful sunrise.”

"That's the sunset. Don't you see it's redder in the west?"

Hattori Heiji felt that with this loose conversation, he might have gotten something wrong from the beginning.

"You had a car accident yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Yuji tilted his head and said dully, "So I only went without food and water for one day..."

"That's about right. Not a few hours more."

The young man weakly raised his hand to support his forehead: "Mr. Kaji is in great shape, no wonder Miss Misato is obsessed with him."

"Who is that? Kaji and Misato or something, friends you know?"

Hattori Heiji was alert behind the door and was curious about the name Yuji said, but he found that the boy's expression suddenly became frightened and he pointed downstairs.

“I’m…back!”

(End of this chapter)