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

On the other side, in Beika Town.

Ai Haibara was somewhat startled when she woke up, but the day passed relatively peacefully. However, while preparing dinner, two "uninvited guests" arrived at Agasa's house.

"..."

She stared blankly at Conan Edogawa, then slowly turned her gaze to the high school boy beside him, staring at his face, which looked just like Shinichi Kudo's, for several seconds.

The other person smiled and looked at her: "Hello, young lady, I am Kaito Kuroba, a magician."

Professor Agasa walked over, looked at Conan Edogawa, then at Kaito Kuroba, and suddenly realized, "You're the Kaito-kun that Terai was talking about, right? He told me before that you look a lot like Shinichi, and I didn't expect you to actually look exactly the same."

Ai Haibara glanced at him, then turned to the two people in front of her, one big and one small: "Is there something you need?"

Conan Edogawa scratched his head awkwardly: "Well... my house isn't very convenient, and Ran said she'd be going shopping with Sonoko tonight and wouldn't be home until late, so I had to eat dinner here. I hope I'm not bothering you?"

Ai Haibara didn't mind freeloading, since she had just started preparing the meal and there was no problem with not having enough food: "Then you'll have to wait a while."

Conan Edogawa waved his hand: "No rush, I'll help you."

The two entered Agasa's house.

Kaito Kuroba was a true guest; as soon as he entered, he grabbed Professor Agasa and bombarded him with questions, eager to see his inventions. Professor Agasa, rarely encountering someone so interested in his inventions, immediately took him to the laboratory.

Once they left, only Conan Edogawa and Ai Haibara remained in the living room and kitchen area on the first floor.

Ai Haibara picked up an apron and put it on, then rummaged around and found another one she usually kept on hand, tossing it to Conan Edogawa: "I didn't expect you could cook."

“I lived alone in Japan for three years before, so I can’t always eat out.”

"I can't help it," Conan Edogawa said helplessly.

This was a life skill he unexpectedly discovered. When his parents first immigrated to the United States, they hired a nanny for him, but that nanny colluded with others to kidnap him, and he was almost blown up.

After that, they didn't look for a new one, so he learned to cook from Aoyagi Akira, who used to borrow books from their house. His cooking skills weren't great, but they were enough for one person.

Ai Haibara remained noncommittal. She took out the groceries she had bought that morning from the refrigerator, set aside some for Conan Edogawa, told him what to cook, and asked him to prepare it.

Thus, a bizarre scene temporarily appeared at Agasa's house: an adult and a high school student who was close to adulthood were having a lively conversation in the laboratory, while two children who looked like seven-year-olds were busy in the kitchen area.

Ai Haibara stared at the chopped vegetables on the cutting board, silently calculating whether there were enough vegetables for this meal. Lost in thought, she recalled the news she'd heard that morning and couldn't help but steal glances at Conan Edogawa out of the corner of her eye.

The shrunken detective also stood on a small stool, put the thawed fish into a bowl, and then used kitchen paper to absorb the surface moisture, his movements were very skillful.

His profile was very calm, and his blue eyes behind his glasses were no different from usual, revealing no emotion.

"what happened?"

Conan Edogawa suddenly spoke up.

"..."

Realizing that Ai Haibara showed no embarrassment or annoyance at being noticed, she paused for a moment, then asked in a low voice about what happened that morning: "The kidnapping livestream case this morning..."

“I was too late; I couldn’t save him.” Conan Edogawa lowered his head, pulled out a new card, and repeated the action from before: “This case will be handled by the Public Security Bureau, so I shouldn’t ask Officer Takagi anything.”

"The deceased's surname is Jiang Teng?" Haiyuan Ai asked.

"Yes, Eto Daizo, the son of a high-ranking public security official, was also present at the Miss Japanese Style beauty pageant."

Conan Edogawa nodded first, then realized something was wrong: "Why are you suddenly asking this?"

In his memory, Ai Haibara had never been interested in cases.

"because……"

Ai Haibara hesitated, looking at the door leading to the basement and then at the main entrance. No one else suddenly appeared.

Conan Edogawa looked puzzled.

"...Because I heard others mention him when I was in the organization."

Ai Haibara's voice was soft, yet it struck Conan Edogawa like a thunderclap.

……

Shiho Miyano went to study in the United States at a very young age.

The organization recognized her talent and provided her with a nanny and bodyguards to take care of her daily needs. While providing her with meticulous material care, they also kept her under tight surveillance.

That's when she met Gin. He hadn't been transferred to Japan yet; he was working in the United States. The organization's boss trusted him and entrusted him with the task of looking after her.

One day, about ten years ago, Shiho Miyano had been in the United States for a year. She was escorted home by her bodyguards after school. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Gin standing in the living room, making a phone call.

Shiho Miyano remembers it so vividly because Gin's actions at the time were somewhat comical—he was holding a phone in both hands, making calls to two people simultaneously…

Or rather, he was unfortunately being harassed by two people at the same time.

She didn't know who was calling. Gin turned around and saw her, but instead of avoiding her, he continued talking to the other end of the line.

“You can’t do it, Gin. If you want to be friends with him, you have to be able to not get angry even if he ruins several years of your efforts, and you have to take the initiative to comfort him when he feels guilty—you can’t do it, you’re too short-tempered.”

The phone was leaking some sound, and Ai Haibara heard the voice coming from the phone on her right. It was Japanese. Shiho Miyano: "..."

Is this a friend, or just a sucker who's there to clean up your messes?

However, before Gin could answer, a voice came from the phone on the left.

“But I’m so bored, Gin. I want to go out and have some fun, but Nii-chan can’t just go hiking. I can only ask you to come with me. That way, when he’s not feeling well, we can take turns carrying him down the mountain, and I’ll have a friend to talk to on the way.”

This voice is very similar to the previous one, only lighter and more lively.

Miyano Shiho: "..."

What a sucker!
Clearly, she wasn't the only one who thought this way; Gin, the person being harassed, thought the same. He coldly said, "Shut up, Aniset. If it weren't for the mission, I wouldn't want to have any contact with you at all."

Shiho Miyano didn't know who the "Aniset" was calling, and the next second, both phones started talking at the same time.

"That's great. Please don't contact him outside of missions. He doesn't mean any harm and isn't deliberately causing trouble, yet you're always so harsh on him. If you're not willing to be tolerant of him, then stay away from him. Don't take advantage of your relationship with him to deceive his feelings. He's so innocent; given time, he'll really start to care about you."

"Don't be so cold, Gin. I don't trust anyone else, so I can only ask you. After all, you're very capable and the most reliable. I consider you a good friend, and I trust you very, very much. Just come with me, just this once, okay?"

Miyano Shiho: "..."

Gin: "…………"

Shiho Miyano swore she clearly heard the sound of her phone screen being crushed.

She began to consider whether she should continue listening to the jokes while enduring Gin's anger, or quickly pretend nothing had happened and retreat to her room.

Just then, she heard a voice from her left and laughed lightly.

"After all, the son of that high-ranking public security official has really gone down the path of crime that his brother predicted. I'm glad, so please come with us this time, okay?"

Shiho Miyano stood there, stunned.

……

Back to the present.

Conan Edogawa stared at Ai Haibara in disbelief, ignoring the stickiness on his hands, his gaze fixed on the face of the former organization member:
"So the son of the high-ranking public security official they mentioned refers to Officer Eto?"

Ai Haibara rarely mentions the organization.

He knew she knew a lot of information, but he also knew that those were terrifying and terrible memories for her, so he never forced her to tell them.

“Yes, then that person said his name,” Ai Haibara said in a low voice. “That was the first time I saw Gin being harassed, so I remember those words very well.”

Conan Edogawa frowned in deep thought:
"Aniset, anise liqueur, male, suspected of having a brother, uses 'Ni-chan' instead of 'Ni-san,' is he just learning Japanese and doesn't know how to address people, or does he like to act cute... Aside from all this, have you ever seen this person in person?"

Ai Haibara shook her head.

“Gin said that when I first arrived in the United States and was suffering from severe acclimatization problems, he came to visit me, sang for me, and took care of me all night. But at that time, I had a high fever and was delirious, so I didn’t see his face clearly at all.”

"And one more time..."

She hesitated for a few seconds, but since she had already said so much, she decided to say the rest:
“My previous school had serious discrimination against Asians. I, a Japanese-Italian girl, and an Asian boy in the high school all experienced school bullying, and he was the one who stepped in to resolve it.”

Conan Edogawa suddenly had a bad feeling: "How was it resolved?"

"He disguised himself as a wanted criminal and infiltrated the school, staged a shooting, and took advantage of the chaos to kill everyone involved in the bullying, as well as several police officers who arrived at the scene." Ai Haibara lowered her head. "A total of 22 people died."

"Wait, if it was someone who bullied you at school, those... were kids your age back then, right?" Conan Edogawa's voice became hoarse.

"...Yes. The people in the organization are all demons; they have no qualms about harming children."

Conan Edogawa was speechless for a moment.

“Perhaps, I’ve seen him a few more times.” Ai Haibara thought for a moment and then added, “It’s just that that person can disguise himself and change his voice. He might have something wrong with his appearance, so he always appears in the organization with someone else’s face.”

She discovered this afterward.

For example, sometimes the food the nanny makes tastes different and becomes more delicious, and when she calls her, she finds that her height is a little off.

For example, sometimes when her bodyguards drove her home, they took a different route than usual;

For example, sometimes she would tell Gin about her schedule for the next day, but when she saw Gin again the next day, he had no idea and his face would turn dark when she mentioned it.

Especially the time she disguised herself as Gin, she didn't notice anything unusual.

Conan Edogawa frowned at her words: "Is there something wrong with his appearance? People involved in organized crime shouldn't care about scars or disfigurement, and it's unlikely they're worried about being remembered because their appearance is too striking. Gin hasn't even cut his long silver hair..."

What could be the reason?

He couldn't think of anything for a moment.

Ai Haibara turned around and continued processing the ingredients, while Conan Edogawa lowered his head in thought.

Neither of them saw that after their conversation ended, some black, mist-like particles silently disappeared into the air above their heads. (End of Chapter)