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

"Just stop here."

At an intersection near the station in Beika Town, Miwako Sato slowly parked her car on the side of the street.

Aoyagi Akimitsu thanked him, picked up his umbrella and the things he had bought earlier, and said to Edogawa Conan beside him, "You can get off now."

Conan Edogawa unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the car door, and jumped out of the Mazda.

Half an hour earlier, they found Daizo Eto's body in a pond in Hibiya Park near the Metropolitan Police Department.

Since he deduced the location from the song and had no other evidence related to the case, he simply gave a brief statement in the park, and then was sent back to Beika by Sato Miwako along with Aoyagi Akimitsu.

"Go back and get some rest, Conan-kun."

Having also been busy all day, Sato Miwako lowered her car window, leaned out slightly to look at Edogawa Conan with concern, and then turned to Aoyagi Akimitsu: "I'll trouble you to take Conan home from now on, Mr. Aoyagi."

Although the police have taken over the case, it doesn't mean the First Investigation Division's work is over. She and Wataru Takagi searched the Kadaya residence together, and they have to submit an investigation report after returning to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Aoyagi Akihiro nodded: "I will take good care of him."

Miwako Sato left quickly without lingering. Conan Edogawa stood there, watching the red Mazda disappear at the end of the street.

It was still raining. Aoyagi Akihiro held the umbrella in one hand and took out his phone to check the time with the other: "It's almost three o'clock now."

Edogawa Conan stood under the umbrella, without answering.

He looked ahead and saw an electronics store across the street, where several televisions behind the glass windows were broadcasting the news.

Upon seeing the prominent slogan, "Search and rescue failed, victim died," a faint reflection flashed across his rain-speckled glasses, obscuring the emotions in his eyes.

Seeing his expression, Aoyagi Binguang sighed helplessly: "My car is parked nearby. You should go back to your car and talk about it. It's not good to just stand there at the intersection."

"……it is good."

Conan Edogawa nodded slowly.

……

Aoyagi Akimitsu's Saboban was parked in front of a bookstore. Edogawa Conan recognized the store; they had recently browsed for new books together there.

Sitting in the passenger seat and fastening his seatbelt again, Conan Edogawa watched as Aoyagi Akimitsu stuffed the stack of teaching materials into the storage compartment without asking any questions.

He was unusually quiet, which made Aoyagi Akimitsu a little uneasy: "Aren't you going to ask what this is?"

Conan Edogawa was still thinking about his classmate's case when he heard an acquaintance ask him a question. He perked up and said, "They're all second-year high school exam papers. I haven't recovered yet, so they're not for me, nor for Ran. You rarely give things to people for no reason, so they must be for Sonoko, right? As a return gift for the art exhibition tickets."

“Yes, you guessed right,” Aoyagi Akimitsu said. “Your thinking is still quite clear. When I saw you staring blankly at the corpse in the park just now, I almost thought you had gone mad.”

Conan Edogawa was taken aback, then said helplessly, "How could that be? I've seen far more horrific corpses; I won't be scared at all. I just..."

His voice lowered.

"...I'm just a little sad."

he whispered.

Conan Edogawa is genuinely saddened by Kadoya's past experiences and his actions today.

Why didn't he care about this classmate who suddenly left? He had always wanted to be a detective since he was a child, yet he was completely unaware of the tragedy that befell those around him...

Why couldn't I deduce it faster today? I was too late, unable to prevent the final tragedy from happening, allowing Kadoya to commit the heinous crime of murder...

If only he had known sooner...

Aoyagi Akimitsu took in his frustration.

Conan Edogawa kept his head down, so he couldn't see the expression on Aoyagi Akimitsu's face at that moment.

He could only hear the other person's voice coming from above.

"—You really do that."

……what?
The voice was familiar, but the tone was unfamiliar. Conan Edogawa didn't react for a moment, and even wondered if he had misheard, or if he was hallucinating because he was in a bad mood. He subconsciously looked up at the person speaking.

However, the next second, a hand reached out and gently patted his head.

“I suddenly thought of you three years ago.” Aoyagi Akimitsu sighed. “To save someone who had bullied you, you ended up trapping yourself in a deadly trap, and even left me a solemn last message. I wanted to tell you that you interrupted the police several times when they arrived…”

Conan Edogawa: "..."

Conan Edogawa: "...Mr. Aoyagi, that incident has nothing to do with the present!!"

Thinking back to that scene, his cheeks instantly turned bright red.

A strong sense of shame made him temporarily ignore the fleeting strangeness he had just experienced.

"They are related."

Aoyagi Akimitsu lowered his hand.

Conan Edogawa silently tidied his hair: "What's the relationship?"

“I have witnessed both cases and found that they both reflect your attitude towards the people around you.”

Aoyagi Akimitsu said earnestly.

“Take today’s case for example. This morning I went to the Metropolitan Police Department to help out, and none of the Japanese police officers I met with cared about Eto’s life or death as much as you do. I saw you in the park just now and found that you felt more guilty than the other police officers present.”

“You’ll be more serious than usual when it comes to someone you know being in danger or committing a crime.”

His words were subtly critical of the Japanese police, prompting Conan Edogawa to retort, "You said it yourself, because it involves someone I know. When someone you know gets into trouble, of course you have to work harder..."

He paused mid-sentence, then realized something: "Wait, go help out at the Metropolitan Police Department? Mr. Aoyagi, has some major case happened at the Metropolitan Police Department today?"

Conan Edogawa's eyes lit up again, as if the gloom had vanished. Aoyagi Akimitsu watched his reaction.

"It's a long story, and it's related to my trip to Japan three years ago... Let me take you back first, and we can talk about it on the way."

"it is good!"

Hearing that Aoyagi Akimitsu was willing to tell him about a major case, Conan Edogawa's depressed mood improved a lot. "Is it the tower I went to before?"

“No,” Aoyagi Akimitsu denied, “we’re going to the Kudo’s house.”

"?!"

Conan Edogawa sat bolt upright in the passenger seat, staring at Aoyagi Akimitsu in surprise.

"The Kudo couple returned to Japan. Their flight was the day before yesterday, so they arrived in Beika last night," said Aoyagi Akimitsu. "Kuroba-sensei is also there. He emailed me this morning saying he'll bring Kaito to visit the Kudo family."

"Wait a minute!" Conan Edogawa felt like he'd missed several episodes. "Why didn't you tell me they were coming back? And Mr. Kuroba is your teacher, right? Why did he visit my house?"

He was almost swallowed up by the question marks.

"Mrs. Yukiko said she wanted to see your surprised expression."

Aoyagi Akimitsu skipped the second question, glancing at him as he started the car: "Actually, I reminded you of that yesterday."

"..."

Conan Edogawa thought back to his phone call with Akimitsu Aoyagi yesterday, discussing a meeting time and the "surprise" Aoyagi had mentioned: "...What kind of surprise is this!"

His parents, especially his mother, were just trying to tease him!
Seeing his intense reaction, Aoyagi Akimitsu smiled helplessly.

"Your attitude towards Mrs. Yukiko is really willful. No matter how windy or rainy it is outside, you can always find your mother waiting for you when you open the door. Isn't that a pleasant surprise?" he chuckled.

"...This is something many people could never have in their lifetime."

The last sentence was so low it sounded like a sigh. (End of Chapter)