Conan: Science Cartoonist Kudo Yuji

"What?! Ono Takuya's whereabouts? Captain Okita is looking for him with his students? So they weren't just missing after all?"

Next to the swimming pool at Kaifang Academy, Conan squatted down and glanced at the pool. He breathed a sigh of relief after receiving a call from Hattori Mamoru, thankful that the children had not been involved in the explosion and suffered any injuries.

Where did they find Takuya Ono?

"Osaka's harbor, but Takuya Ono wasn't planning to run away. According to Okita, he was planning to jump."

Hattori Mamoru looked at Ono Takuya, who was surrounded by several students to prevent him from escaping or causing another disturbance. The boy seemed to have closed his heart, ignoring anyone who spoke to him.

"Hey, don't do that."

After stopping a student who wanted to slap a personality correction shot on Ono's face, Okita walked over to Hattori Mamoru.

"Are you reporting to a police officer in Tokyo, or one from headquarters?"

Knowing that his senior had a terrible relationship with his father, Okita naturally didn't think he could speak to Hattori so calmly, but he still paused for a second when he learned that the person on the other end of the phone was an elementary school student.

“He’s really amazing. My mom had a very high opinion of him before I left home.”

Hattori offered an explanation, then recalled his mother's surprise when she received a phone call from his father before leaving the house.

[Huh? Conan Edogawa? Really? That's really... amazing!]

"Okita, have you always felt something was wrong at school?"

Hattori placed his phone between himself and Okita so that Conan could hear it.

“Our grade is relatively normal, but Ono and his classmates have a bad reputation throughout the grade, so I paid special attention to them after what happened with Uchitake-sensei.” Okita hesitated and said, “We’ve all met Uchitake-sensei’s daughter. She’s a very cute child. She would follow us around calling us ‘brother’ and ‘sister’, and sometimes she would watch detective dramas with us in the clubroom.”

"Is Ms. Uchitake's child in your club?" Conan's voice came through the phone. "What's her relationship with the Detective Club of Kaifang Academy?" "...You're very perceptive. Ms. Uchitake is our Detective Club's advisor."

Okita noticed Hattori's gaze and turned his head slightly to avoid it.

“Okita, Ms. Uchitake is involved in a very serious incident. Hiding anything won’t help her.”

“I know, but you all basically already know that. As for the rest, I… I don’t know either.” Okita looked at Hattori blankly: “The teacher didn’t directly hurt anyone.”

"Adding HIV patients' blood to students' food, and asking friends to stimulate students who are already mentally unstable..." Conan was interrupted by Okita before he could finish speaking.

"The teacher didn't directly harm anyone, so is this small act of revenge not allowed? Does the teacher have to be a saint, unable to retaliate even after being hurt like this?!"

"Of course." Conan was silent for a moment before giving his answer. In the past, he would have said some empty words, but now he was not an idealist and would always be more realistic in light of the situation.

"But not as a teacher."

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Okita had almost forgotten that Conan was an elementary school student, and actually started arguing with him.

"She could have resigned and then sought revenge. As long as she didn't cross any lines, it would have been just a dispute at most. But why were those students so easily influenced by her? Why did Ono and his two friends drink water stained with blood without any precautions? Why was Kamisuke constantly being visited at home, while his mother couldn't even call the police?"

"Because she's a teacher." Hattori understood what Conan meant.

“Because she’s a teacher, she can so easily know when students are not in the classroom and add things to their water cups. Because she’s a teacher, even home visits can’t be considered harassment…” Conan calmly looked at the water: “She used her position as a teacher as a tool to take revenge on her students, which is absolutely unacceptable.”

Not long ago, the woman who stood in his place, watching her daughter float on the water, went completely insane. (End of Chapter)