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

Although Conan Edogawa lost focus for a while, with Ai Haibara there, the four of them quickly finished their dinner.

Kaito Kuroba had just seen many strange inventions and the new magical furniture ordered by the butler, and his face was still full of excitement. He turned to the dining table:
"Dinner is..."

"Miso-grilled salmon, yellow croaker stew with radish, vegetable salad, and seaweed and fish soup. The supermarket had fish on sale today, so I bought a lot."

Ai Haibara directed Professor Agasa to serve the dishes, then turned to Kaito Kuroba, whose expression was gradually hardening: "Edogawa didn't want to eat all fish, so he fried himself a few croquettes."

Kaito Kuroba, who's afraid of fish: "..."

Conan Edogawa, sitting next to him, quickly guessed what was wrong when he saw his expression. He could only place the croquettes that had just been served next to him: "Next time, just say so in advance if you don't want to eat something."

Kaito Kuroba breathed a sigh of relief and quickly resumed his playful grin: "After all, I'm a guest. If I'm too picky, I'll be disliked."

Conan Edogawa rolled his eyes and said, "Give me back my croquette."

"Little detective, I was just joking." Kaito Kuroba quickly picked up a croquette and put it in his mouth, his eyes lighting up: "This croquette is pretty good."

The four began their dinner in a harmonious atmosphere. Although it was Kaito Kuroba's first time there, he was the most talkative, chatting with almost everyone, teasing Conan Edogawa, and discussing inventions with Professor Agasa.

Even Ai Haibara, who is usually quiet, said a few words to him when he mentioned magic.

While eating, Conan Edogawa listened to him talk about the magic show by Toichi Kuroba, who successfully escaped by faking his death. Halfway through the story, Conan almost choked on his food.

Everyone at the table watched as Conan Edogawa choked, looking pale, clutching his neck with one hand and reaching for a water glass in the distance with the other. Kaito Kuroba reacted the fastest, and to repay the kindness of the croquette earlier, he handed over his untouched glass of water.

"You're eating too fast." Kaito Kuroba watched his former cousin, now younger cousin, chugging water, and was a little speechless. "Nobody's going to take it from you."

As he spoke, he pushed all his fish over.

"I don't……"

After finishing his water, Conan Edogawa finally calmed down. He turned to Kaito Kuroba and asked, "I wanted to ask, what happened with that performance?"

Kaito Kuroba didn't understand why he was in such a hurry: "It's an escape magic trick, haven't you seen it before? I won't go into the specifics, but I can tell you that after his assistant closed the box, he immediately disguised himself as another assistant and escaped—"

"This is it!" Conan Edogawa grabbed him. "Uncle Kuroba can disguise himself?"

“Of course.” Kaito Kuroba stared at him with an expression that said, “Why are you asking such a stupid question as why people breathe?” “Yukiko… Sister, you learned disguise from my dad back then, and you didn’t know that?”

Conan Edogawa met his gaze, paused for a moment, and then slowly came to his senses.

Just now, his mind was full of new intelligence about the organization, speculating on why that member chose to appear in disguise, and how to capture someone with such skills.

But they forgot that there was a master of disguise right next to them.

Ignoring the winks from Ai Haibara sitting opposite him, Conan Edogawa continued, "How can I be sure if someone is disguised?"

“Just pinch the face directly,” Kaito Kuroba said. “Or wounds. The disguise mask won’t bleed when it’s scratched, but my dad has been trying to improve that to make it more realistic.”

"Are there many people who know this skill?" Conan Edogawa asked again.

"Not many. Disguise is much more difficult than makeup; it requires a lot of talent."

"What about voice changing?"

Conan Edogawa pressed on with a question, enduring Ai Haibara's glare that seemed to pierce him.

"Less."

When his professional field was mentioned, Kaito Kuroba became unusually serious.

"Like Yukiko, she can disguise herself, but she hasn't learned to change her voice. Among the people I know, besides my dad and me, his eldest disciple, the former internationally renowned actress Sharon Vineyard, has also mastered it. It's said that the Phantom Thief Lupin III can also do it."

When the phantom thief was mentioned, Kaito Kuroba's tone became somewhat ambiguous.

“Mr. Aoyagi is also learning. He is extremely sensitive to sound and his voice is rather neutral, so it will be easier for him than for Yukiko.”

The young magician then offered his conclusion.

Conan Edogawa nodded slowly, silently processing this information.

"correct."

Kaito Kuroba suddenly remembered something, reached into his pocket, and pulled out two tickets.

"I almost forgot, here, please give this to Mr. Aoyagi. You must know him quite well, right?"

Conan Edogawa looked down at the ticket which read "Full Heaven Games Launch Event," and took it from the ticket: "You're going to invite him there?"

Kaito Kuroba waved his hand helplessly: "I can't go. Aoko asked me to go to the amusement park that night, but the time conflicted. I just heard from my dad that Mr. Aoyagi likes novel things, so I thought I'd give it to him. Here are two tickets, you can go with him."

Conan Edogawa scanned the information on the ticket, which showed that the exhibition was next Friday. "I have time, but Mr. Aoyagi is sometimes quite busy. I'll send him a message to ask."

He thought for a moment and then said.

……

"Buzz-"

A cell phone vibrated, echoing in a seemingly ordinary apartment building in Nerima Ward.

Kazuya Miwa sat on the sofa, his hair a mess. He stared at the laptop screen on his lap, his fingers flying across the keys, but sometimes he would get annoyed and press the delete key to delete everything he had just typed.

A television nearby was broadcasting the news.

He noticed the phone vibrating on the alloy coffee table and said without looking up, "Your phone is ringing."

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt something scratch the back of his neck.

Kazuya Miwa instantly pressed save, and sure enough, the next second, a fluffy thing crawled up his shoulder from behind, then down his arm, and onto his keyboard.

It was a cat with grayish-white fur and a pair of limp ears that bent forward.

"..."

Feeling the cat lying on his hand, Kazuya Miwa's body stiffened slightly.

He dislikes animals, so apart from self-defense, he rarely summons his animal messengers, and he certainly doesn't keep cats or dogs as pets.

The cat in front of me was brought back by Aoyagi Akimitsu this evening. In addition to the cat, he also brought some pet supplies and food, so it seems he plans to keep it.

"Are you hungry?"

Aoyagi Akimitsu walked out of the kitchen. Unusually, he didn't transform into his usual old lady persona; instead, he wore casual loungewear and sat down on the single sofa, holding a bowl. He reached out and picked up the cat, draping it over his shoulder.

The cat meowed softly, as if sensing his kindness, its long hair falling close to his ear.

"I'm cooking for you, please wait a moment."

Aoyagi Akimitsu said gently.

Kazuya Miwa couldn't help but steal a glance at him.

The bowl contained chicken breast, beef, chicken liver, egg yolk, and pumpkin. Aoyagi Akimitsu quickly mashed the ingredients in the bowl into a paste comparable to that of a machine-crushed meat paste, sprinkled on vitamin powder, mixed it again, and then placed the cat and the bowl on the coffee table.

Watching the cat eat, Aoyagi Akihiro picked up his phone.

Kazuya Miwa observed his expression and, seeing that he seemed to be in a good mood, tentatively asked, "Is it about work?"

“Not entirely.” Aoyagi Bin said without looking up, “Conan asked me if I was free next Friday, and wanted to invite me to the Full Paradise Games press conference.”

Upon hearing about the game, Kazuya Miwa's eyes lit up, but he remained silent.

It was Aoyagi Akimitsu who took the initiative and said, "I remember you really like games, would you like to come along?"

Kazuya Miwa shook his head repeatedly: "No, I have to submit my manuscript next week, and I'm stuck on a part of the story."

Aoyagi Akimitsu did not insist.

While the two were talking, the television in the living room was broadcasting the news, a follow-up to the police kidnapping incident that morning. Because of its significant impact, the Metropolitan Police Department had held a special press conference, which was being broadcast live at that moment.

"The Metropolitan Police Department has confirmed that this is a heinous incident. The perpetrator, in retaliation against a high-ranking official who had been targeting organized crime for many years, brutally kidnapped and murdered his only son, even using a minor during the crime..."

"Furthermore, the dismemberment case and street shooting that occurred in Shibuya this afternoon are still under investigation by the police..."

The reporter's serious voice fell into the room, which was completely silent.

Kazuya Miwa had seen these news reports since morning and continued to follow them until Akihiro Aoyagi returned.

"Don't you have anything you want to ask me?"

Aoyagi Akimitsu's voice rang out again.

Kazuya Miwa's fingers trembled almost imperceptibly as they pressed the keys on the keyboard.

He slowly turned his head and met the gaze of the long-haired man sitting on the single sofa who had just specially prepared cat food to feed the kittens.

Aoyagi Akimitsu smiled at him and said, "I can answer any questions you may have about what happened today, or any problems you encounter while writing." (End of Chapter)