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

As Conan Edogawa approached, the sound became clearer and clearer.

A hearse was parked outside, with two staff members supporting a body transport box on either side, seemingly preparing to transfer it from the trolley into the vehicle.

They all stopped what they were doing and looked hesitantly at the two people standing in front of them.

One of them was Takeuchi Kazuki, who caught the attention of Conan Edogawa. He was being grabbed by the collar by the middle-aged man opposite him, and there was a clear red swelling on his right cheek.

The middle-aged man, his face haggard and eyes slightly red, roared at Takeuchi Kazuki, "You've ruined her life bad enough! She's dead now, why are you still bothering her?!"

Kazuki Takeuchi was thin and frail, and the action of having his collar grabbed clearly made him very uncomfortable, but he still looked the man straight in the eye and said with difficulty, "I didn't, I didn't hurt her, I just... wanted to see her one more time..."

These words clearly further enraged the middle-aged man, who raised his other hand high as if to slap him hard.

When Conan Edogawa saw this, he instinctively wanted to go and stop him, but he was too far away. Before he could run a few steps, the enraged middle-aged man was stopped by the others around him.

"Sir, sir! Please calm down!"

A porter loosened his grip on the shipping container and frantically grabbed the middle-aged man's arm.

The shipping container lost its support and fell back onto the trolley with a not-so-dull sound.

Conan Edogawa was startled and instinctively looked toward the source of the noise.

"husband."

A middle-aged woman who looked a few years younger also raised her hand and placed it on his shoulder. Her brows were slightly furrowed, but her emotions remained relatively stable. "I think Mr. Takeuchi means no harm; he just came to see Ria one last time."

Seeing that the middle-aged man was still angry, she lowered her voice and added, "Our child is still interning at the company."

"........."

Clearly, the second sentence truly touched the middle-aged man; his eyes remained fixed on Takeuchi Kazuki, but his hand slowly lowered.

"Stop pretending." Takeuchi Kazuki said quietly, looking at the middle-aged woman who had spoken up for him earlier, his face cold: "You're the one who chose to give up treatment, don't think I don't know."

The middle-aged woman's expression froze instantly.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man's eyes flashed with malice again, but this time he did not raise his hand to hit anyone. Instead, he pushed Takeuchi Kazuki to the ground.

"Don't come near my daughter anymore."

After speaking coldly, he ignored Kazuki Takeuchi, who was slumped on the ground for a long time without getting up, and turned to the two stunned staff members: "Sorry for the slight delay, please continue."

The two stunned staff members snapped out of their daze, and the one who had accidentally dropped the shipping box bowed slightly in embarrassment, saying, "Okay."

Conan Edogawa stood not far away.

There were many onlookers nearby, but none of them noticed the child. After the hearse drove away, the others whispered among themselves about Takeuchi Kazuki, who had stayed behind. Seeing that no one went to help, he immediately ran over.

"Brother Takeuchi, are you alright?"

Without hesitation, Conan Edogawa chose a more intimate way of addressing this boy who was actually the same age as him.

Takeuchi Kazuki sat on the ground, staring blankly in the direction the car had left. Even after the car disappeared from sight, he did not look away. His right hand was tightly gripping the crumpled collar, and a faint silver light flickered between his fingers.

It wasn't until Conan Edogawa spoke up that he realized there was someone else next to him.

He turned his head and was taken aback when he saw Conan Edogawa: "You are... the kid the detective brought this morning?"

"It's me, my name is Conan Edogawa." He introduced himself and reached out to help the person up. "Please get up. This is the entrance to the hospital. Sitting here will disturb others."

The most important rule in Japanese interpersonal relationships is "don't affect others." Sure enough, upon hearing this, Takeuchi Kazuki frowned, braced himself with one hand on the ground, and used the other hand to lean on Edogawa Conan for support, and stood up again.

Conan Edogawa looked him up and down, making sure that apart from the redness and swelling on his face, he had no other injuries, and felt somewhat relieved. "Brother Takeuchi."

He hadn't forgotten why he'd run down to look for someone. He looked around and saw that there were quite a few people nearby, some of whom were hospital staff, and others were dressed in regular clothes, unsure whether they were family members visiting or patients coming for their first appointment.

Clearly, this wasn't the right place to ask questions. He recalled the shops he'd passed on his way here, and a thought suddenly struck him: "I'm Uncle Mori's assistant. I have something I'd like to ask you. Do you have time?"

Kazuki Takeuchi initially wanted to refuse.

But when he met Conan Edogawa's expectant gaze, a strange feeling stirred within him, and his expression became hesitant... A few seconds later, he nodded.

"……All right."

……

When Conan Edogawa said "nearby," he had actually walked quite a distance.

After all, Kogoro Mouri had just been bugged in the hospital, so he didn't dare to ask questions too close to the hospital.

Along the way, he kept an eye on his surroundings to make sure no one was following him, and then entered a small park with Takeuchi Kazuki. The park wasn't very big; after passing through it, the city hall was diagonally opposite, very close to the city center.

There weren't many people in the park, and the two quickly found a bench near the pond and sat down together.

Conan Edogawa looked at Kazuki Takeuchi, who had walked in silence the whole way and was still sitting down without saying a word, and wondered how to start a conversation.

As he watched, he suddenly noticed that the other person was holding something in their hand—something they had been clutching tightly ever since they fell to the ground in the hospital.

“Brother Takeuchi,” Conan Edogawa decided to start with this, “is something very important in your hand? I’ve seen you holding it the whole way.”

Takeuchi Kazuki glanced at him, lowered his hand, and slowly opened it.

It was a pendant box with two raised snakes intertwined on its silver exterior, biting each other's tails to form a figure "8". Each snake's eye was inlaid with an emerald. It looked very exquisite and was quite expensive.

He pressed a button on the side, and the locket popped open, revealing the photo inside.

The image above shows a young woman with fair skin, long black hair cascading over her shoulders, and bright blue eyes gazing straight ahead, a slight smile playing on her lips. Her facial features appear more defined than those of a typical Asian woman, suggesting she may be of mixed race.

She wasn't particularly beautiful, but her smile had a gentle, comforting quality.

Conan Edogawa had a guess, and he tentatively asked, "Is this the 'Ria' that aunt mentioned?"

His eyesight and hearing are excellent; he heard every important detail even from such a distance.

Kazuki Takeuchi nodded: "Yes."

He didn't look at Conan Edogawa, his gaze fixed on the photograph in his hand, as if he were looking directly at the woman in the picture. He spoke softly, "She is my lover, and the most important person to me."

While silently sensing the emotions in his tone, Conan Edogawa continued to observe the photograph.

After careful observation, he noticed something was amiss.

“Brother Takeuchi,” Conan Edogawa began hesitantly, “if I remember correctly, you’re still in high school, right? But this older sister in the photo, she looks already…”

Kazuki Takeuchi gave a dismissive "hmm".

“She’s an adult, she used to be my teacher, and she’s ten years older than me,” he said. “We’re in a relationship where the woman is older than the man.”

Conan Edogawa: "..."

Conan Edogawa: "???" (End of Chapter)