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

Under police direction, unrelated personnel gradually left. Aoyagi Akimitsu, holding the hand of Edogawa Conan, who was wearing an exaggerated smile, was among the first to leave the scene.

Inspector Megure planned to take the attempted bomber and the target, who also seemed to be hiding many secrets, back to the Metropolitan Police Department. He left some of his men to continue processing the scene and turned to Matsuda Jinpei:
"Matsuda, you are a witness, so you should also go back to the Metropolitan Police Department to give a statement."

"Understood." Matsuda Jinpei nodded, then said, "Inspector, you can go ahead. I need to wait for my friend; he'll take me home."

Inspector Megure and his men left, while Matsuda Jinpei went to a secluded corner to wait for them.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Furuya Rei arrived.

"Let's go, I'll take you home."

Furuya Rei didn't look too good. Matsuda Jinpei saw that the forensic personnel were coming out from not far away, so he didn't ask any questions and quickly followed them to the parking lot.

The parking lot was mostly empty, but Matsuda Jinpei still sat in the passenger seat. He fastened his seatbelt and turned his head to see Furuya Rei sitting next to him with his phone in hand, his fingers constantly tapping on the screen.

He couldn't help but ask, "What, are you instructing your men to steal cases again?"

Furuya Rei's fingers paused slightly as he pressed the button, and he said speechlessly, "Matsuda, don't ask about our work so casually."

Matsuda Jinpei neither confirmed nor denied this "warning," and looked down at his shirt: "Should I hand this shirt over to you too?"

"Yes. I've already had someone prepare a shirt of the same size. You can change into this one when you get back, and just give it to them directly."

As they spoke, Rei Furuya's gaze lingered on the stain. Over time, the bright red had turned a dark brown.

He didn't find Glenn, and the police officers he sent out to keep watch also failed to find the organization members who came to silence him, but he didn't come away empty-handed.

At least he can get Glenn's DNA from this piece of clothing. If anything happens later, the police can use it for comparison.

Matsuda Jinpei could roughly guess what Furuya Rei was thinking. He frowned slightly: "Who exactly is this guy? What did he do in the past? Can't you tell me any of this?"

Rei Furuya did not back down: "I'm sorry, not for now. I can only tell you that he is far more dangerous than the criminals the First Investigation Division usually encounters. If you encounter him again, notify me immediately. Do not be alone, and do not act rashly."

As a friend, he didn't want to hide it from his good friend, but he really didn't want Matsuda Jinpei to get too involved in which organization this was.

Matsuda Jinpei clicked his tongue; this answer, almost identical to his previous one, was within his expectations. He continued, "What's his name? Has he killed anyone?"

Rei Furuya remained silent.

Matsuda Jinpei didn't look at him or press him for answers; his eyes were fixed straight ahead. A striking red sports car had been parked there, but it was gone.

“He gave me a really strange feeling,” he suddenly said. “I don’t understand why he pushed me and that kid next to him away at that time.”

Furuya Rei glanced at Matsuda Jinpei's chin and, upon seeing him fall to the ground, immediately examined him, discovering that he had been knocked unconscious by a blow to the chin.

This is a common knockout move in boxing matches, much safer than striking the temple or slashing the side of the neck with a karate chop—the latter two, if done too hard, can kill a person—striking the chin will only cause a short period of unconsciousness.

"Red Pine."

Rei Furuya said, "His name is Akatsuki Akamatsu. He didn't save you out of kindness; it was just their style of doing things. They try to avoid attracting too much attention. If a policeman and a child were killed in a bombing, the number of police officers who came today would double."

"..."

Seeing that Matsuda Jinpei was still frowning and hadn't fully accepted the explanation, Furuya Rei sighed silently to himself.

He's an adult, and a sharp-eyed active-duty detective at that. He won't blindly believe whatever his friends say; he'll make his own judgments.

After thinking for a moment, Furuya Rei decided to drop a bombshell: "I think you should stay as far away from him as possible; he's more dangerous to you."

"Huh?" Matsuda Jinpei suddenly felt underestimated, but then thought his friend wouldn't do that: "What do you mean?"

"Akamatsu likes men and has harassed men who do not have that orientation."

Rei Furuya deliberately spoke in a very worried tone.

"Matsuda, if you think he saved you for some other reason, then the most likely explanation is..."

Matsuda Jinpei: "..."

He doesn't discriminate against others, but as a straight man, the thought of what Furuya Rei said disgusted him, and he silently got goosebumps all over his body.

He didn't think Furuya Rei was lying to him. Given Furuya Rei's personality, he would never have thought of such a reason if he really wanted to find one, so it must be true.

...Could it be that his discomfort and struggle to break free when that beautiful foreign woman hugged him on the streets of Shibuya last time was due to his sexual orientation? Because he prefers the same sex, he rejects physical contact with the opposite sex?

Matsuda Jinpei seemed to understand something in a daze.

but……

Recalling the scene, Matsuda Jinpei became somewhat lost in thought.

A name slipped silently from his lips: "Aoyagi..."

Rei Furuya, who was about to drive, asked in confusion, "What happened to him? Did he say something to you after I left?"

Matsuda Jinpei snapped out of his daze and realized he had called out the wrong name. "No, it's nothing. He stayed by your side after you left, only mentioning that the foreigner received a threatening letter, and did nothing else."

Rei Furuya didn't seem to care: "That's normal. This isn't America. Even when a foreign tourist was stabbed in Osaka, he handed it over entirely to the Osaka Prefectural Police."

Compared to Aoyagi Akimitsu's attitude of being invisible, rather than pulling out his FBI badge and ordering people around, Rei Furuya actually welcomed it. Thinking about it that way, his anger at being ordered around as a bodyguard lessened considerably.

He started the car and drove straight to the Metropolitan Police Department. The two remained silent the rest of the way.

As Matsuda Jinpei gazed at the night view outside the window, he pondered why he had called the wrong name earlier. Upon seeing the familiar Metropolitan Police Department building, he finally understood.

It's because of the smile.

—The way that foreign woman smiled back then was very similar to Aoyagi Akimitsu.

Speaking of which, he first met Aoyagi Akimitsu at Minato Ward Junior High School three years ago, and the other person gave him an uncomfortable feeling.

If Matsuda Jinpei were to describe that feeling using a common item from his life, it would be a bomb—a time bomb that has not yet started its countdown and is cunningly hidden under some safe object.

Although Furuya Rei soon revealed the other person's identity—an FBI agent who had infiltrated the country undercover—and three years later, the other person had come to Japan through legitimate channels, that subconscious feeling had never faded.

That woman was the same.

Even with a gentle smile and a friendly demeanor, there was always a subtle sense of danger about him.

As Matsuda Jinpei pondered, the car stopped. He snapped out of his thoughts and prepared to get out, but as he reached for his seatbelt, he noticed Furuya Rei beside him turning his head to look in another direction.

Out of curiosity, he also glanced in that direction.

"Hiro's car."

He heard Rei Furuya mutter to himself, "Why is he suddenly back at the Metropolitan Police Department so late?" (End of Chapter)