Conan: I'm really not the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 165 How snakes grow venomous fangs (Part )

Artemis threw herself on the hospital bed, Anatole put down the book, raised his dominant left hand and touched his brother's hair, and the two boys hugged each other as if they were looking in a mirror.

They look exactly the same.

Except for the color of her eyes - Artemis has the same light brown eyes as her mother, Anatole's eyes are green, like a poisonous snake.

The brothers had speculated that they inherited the color from their father, but their mother never mentioned the man and they didn't ask.

In addition, physically, the two are completely different.

They were only seven months old when they were born, and they were premature babies. Anatole was born in the middle of the night on May 5, and Artemis was born in the early morning of the next day on May 30.

At that time, Lyudmila was short of money, and the country had not yet recovered from the major event at the end of last year. The region was in chaos, and the hospital was overcrowded. The two children were discharged after only one month in the incubator.

Anatoly suffered from the sequelae of this. He would fall ill every time the weather got cold, and he would cough constantly when he smelled the smell of smoke.

Artemis is much luckier. He has a healthy body, even better than most people. The number of visits to the hospital since he was a child is less than a fraction of his brother's.

Lyudmila stood aside and looked at her two children quietly.

Artemis talked about his experience in school during this period and gave the gift, his eyes sparkling; Anatole listened carefully, took it with a smile, and then talked about some things that happened in the hospital. Give the book next to it to your younger brother and tell him that he should also read more.

While they were talking, the two kept holding hands and looking at each other, as if their eyes could not tolerate the existence of a third person.

Lyudmila felt mixed emotions when she saw this scene.

Many people, including her biological mother, thought that the brothers would have conflicts. The older brother would be jealous of the younger brother's health, while the younger brother would dislike the older brother's poor health and need to be taken care of...

But none of this happened.

They have a close relationship, as if they are one body. The elder brother is glad that his younger brother is not as frail as him. The younger brother is willing to accompany such an older brother, voluntarily confining himself to a small bedroom or ward, and giving up the outside world.

There are no better brothers.

Mother looked at their clasped hands.

- No one can separate them except God or the devil.

……

It’s still cold in Moscow at the end of March.

After leaving the hospital that day, Lyudmila sent Artemis to a music classroom and began learning guitar.

There was only Artemis, no Anatole.

But Anatoly didn't have nothing to do. Sofia's Christmas gift was a set of Go. He often played chess and played against himself when no one was playing against him. Lyudmila also bought him a lot of new books.

As if God compensated for his frailty, Anatole had an excellent memory and could remember every chess game and even every move clearly. Artemis couldn't do it.

Lyudmila had a very complicated expression when she noticed this talent.

"Ugh……"

After the guitar lesson ended for the day, Artemis was packing her things in the classroom. He looked out the window and couldn't help but sigh.

It was supposed that when the weather got warmer, the family of three would go to a nearby park to play. His mother bought iron skewers for barbecue, and he used his pocket money to buy two identical backpacks... but Anatoly got sick again.

This is not the first time that their family's travel plans have often been interrupted like this.

Artemis had no dissatisfaction or complaint, knowing that Anatole himself was the saddest. He just felt a little regretful, and at the same time couldn't help but think that it would be great if he could give half of his health to his brother.

He was thinking whimsically, and his cleaning movements were much slower than others, waiting for everyone around him to finish leaving.

He stuffed the sheet of music into his bag and zipped it all the way down, when a voice with a slightly strange accent suddenly came from behind him.

"Why are you still here?"

Artemis turned around and saw a young black-haired man standing at the door.

The face was hidden in the shadow of the door and was a little blurry. It could only be distinguished that it was an Asian face that was very rare here.

Artemis knew him as the substitute teacher in the piano class next door. The original piano teacher suddenly had a car accident. He just arrived a week ago. It is said that he is Japanese.

Many students don't like this teacher. They discriminate against such skin color and race, and some parents even drop out of class. Artemis didn't hate it. He slipped on the stairs a few days ago, and it was this teacher who took him to the infirmary for treatment.

"Sorry, I'm leaving right now."

Artemis thought that the other party was going to clean up the room here to prepare for lessons, so she pulled her guitar bag on her back and hurried out.

He had just boasted about crossing the door, when he suddenly shuddered without warning.　　　　!!”

There was a gaze piercing his back, and the cold feeling was like a knife cutting across his skin, or like a hunter staring at the prey in a net bag. Artemis suddenly turned around and looked there.

The classroom was empty.

The tables and chairs were arranged neatly, the windows were tightly closed, and a soft afterglow fell in front of the windows.

--The sun is setting outside, the daylight is disappearing, and the long, cold night is coming.

Artemis looked carefully inside the classroom and found that the strange feeling was gone.

……illusion?

He was a little confused, so he withdrew his gaze and left quickly, passing by the Asian teacher standing by the door.

That strange feeling came back, only it disappeared faster this time.

……

At school, some people teased Artemis for having an Oedipus complex because he liked to tell his mother everything.

In fact, this evaluation is wrong. He will only tell his mother things related to himself, and will not tell all the trivial things that happened in school or other places.

For example, after returning home this time, he told her about the abnormality.

"...You said you felt someone was watching you?"

"It seemed like, maybe it was my imagination, because there was no one else in the classroom when I turned around."

It was completely dark, and the strong wind was blowing against the windows. Artemis indoors was gently playing with the sunflowers in her hands.

The branches of the carefully cared for plant are green and slender, supporting a flower bud that has not yet bloomed. It is tightly closed, and the gathered flower buds are like pinched fingers.

Lyudmila loved sunflowers, and Artemis often grew them at home. Due to the cold weather in recent months, the sun has not appeared much. No matter how carefully he took care of it, it just didn't die and couldn't bloom.

It would be great if it could bloom when my brother is discharged from the hospital next time...

Artemis didn't take the music classroom thing to heart and just mentioned it casually. He wanted to ask if he could help, but when he turned around, he saw his mother frowning.

"Mom, what's wrong with you?" he shouted.

"That teacher you mentioned, that Japanese guy, what's his name?"

Lyudmila stopped what she was doing.

Artemis began to recall that because he was not his teacher, and the pronunciation of the Japanese surname was different from the Russian one, which was a bit weird, he had not paid attention to his real name.

"I don't know what his Japanese name is, but I've heard people call him..."

That's what Artemis accidentally heard.

He left something in the music room that afternoon and came back to get it. While passing by the office, he unexpectedly heard the Asian teacher seeming to be talking to someone. The person called him—

"Wheat."

Lyudmila's eyes widened instantly and her face turned pale.

Artemis was stunned. This was the first time he had seen her look like this since he could remember.

But he didn't know what he said wrong.

He watched his mother pull off the apron almost in one go, her outstretched hand trembling slightly. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, the door to their living room opened with a bang.

A grenade was thrown.

----

The closer I get to the end, the more awkward I become...

I went to see the theater version today.

After the gunships strafed Tokyo Tower, the new theater organization used submarine torpedoes to attack the Interpol base, and Gin managed to escape afterwards.

This is no longer an ordinary criminal organization, but a transnational terrorist armed organization. It is understandable that an organization of this level has many undercover agents. Why has it not been killed for so many years? Could it be that the supporter behind the scenes is Ami...?

If you think about it again, it's okay to think that Rum accidentally killed Amanda (one of the presidential candidates that year). It's horrifying to think about it.

(End of this chapter)