I'm in Conan, I'm not a gangster

Chapter 555 This is the side effect of the antidote (1st update)
Just as Shiraishi E was about to turn around and say a few more words to Conan and the others, Miyano Shiho had already strode towards the door. Without turning back, she tossed out a sentence: "I'm leaving."

"Huh? Now?" Shiraishi E paused for a moment, her gaze shifting between Shiho's back and the people in the room.

Conan was looking down at his unchanged little hand with a frustrated expression, while Kogoro Mouri and Heiji Hattori were immersed in the joy of returning to normal and were completely unaware of the commotion.

Shiho Miyano stopped at the door and turned her head slightly: "Is there anything else?"

That cool, clear voice made Shiraishi E immediately shake her head: "No, I'm coming."

He waved to everyone in the room: "You guys chat first, we have something to take care of."

In the corridor, Shiraishi E quickly caught up with Miyano Shiho and asked in a low voice, "What happened? Is there something wrong with the antidote? Why is it that only Kudo hasn't turned back?"

Shiho Miyano didn't stop walking, only replying casually, "Let's talk in the room."

Shiraishi E frowned, a sense of unease rising in her heart.

He understood Shiho Miyano's personality; she wouldn't be in such a hurry unless it was something important.

Could it be that the side effects of the antidote are more severe than expected? Or is there something special about Conan's situation?
The two took the elevator to the floor where they had booked a room in advance.

Shiho Miyano swiped her card to open the door with clean and efficient movements.

This was a luxury suite with floor-to-ceiling windows offering a view of the dazzling nightscape of Beika City, but neither of them was in the mood to appreciate it at the moment.

As soon as the door closed, Shiraishi E impatiently pressed, "What exactly happened? Is it the antidote—"

His words stopped abruptly.

Shiho Miyano suddenly turned around, grabbed his collar with both hands, and pushed him against the wall.

Her short, brown hair swayed gently with her movements, and her icy blue eyes shimmered with a complex light under the lamplight.

"Shiho?" Shiraishi E was completely bewildered, and for a moment she had no idea what the other party wanted to do.

But he could feel her fingers trembling slightly.

"Shut up." Shiho Miyano's voice was a few octaves lower than usual: "Let me confirm something."

Before Shiraishi E could react, she stood on tiptoe and kissed his lips.

The kiss came suddenly and passionately, with an unyielding determination that left no room for refusal.

Shiraishi E's brain went blank for a moment, and she froze on the spot.

He could smell the faint scent of disinfectant mixed with the fragrance of shampoo on her body, and he could feel the touch of her eyelashes brushing against his cheek as they fluttered.

A few seconds later, Shiho Miyano took a step back, her face still expressionless, but the tips of her ears were suspiciously red.

"As expected," she muttered to herself, "the side effects of the antidote."

"Side effects?" Shiraishi looked at the other person with a suspicious and amused gaze, touching her still slightly numb lips. "Is this what you called 'important stuff'?"

Shiho Miyano calmly straightened her collar: "Part of scientific observation."

"Hmm?" Shiraishi E said with a hint of doubt, "You call this scientific observation?"

“After taking experimental drugs, hormone levels can fluctuate abnormally,” she explained seriously, but her eyes darted away. “It has been observed in laboratory mice, but it needs to be verified in the field.”

Shiraishi E suddenly laughed: "So, you're saying that you suddenly wanted to kiss me because of the side effects of the antidote?"

"."

“Shiho.” He took a step forward, trapping her between himself and the wall, and said with amusement, “Do you know what scientists hate most? Falsifying experimental data.”

Shiho Miyano's eyelashes trembled slightly, but she still tried to remain calm: "I didn't."

"Then why..." Shiraishi E lowered her head, reached out to feel, and whispered in her ear, "Why is your heart beating so fast?"

Shiho Miyano shoved him away abruptly, strode to the minibar, and poured herself a glass of water.

Through the glass, you could see her fingertips were still trembling slightly.

"So," Shiraishi E said, her interest piqued, "then why was someone so enthusiastic about their 'scientific observation' just now?"

Shiho Miyano finally turned around, her face showing rare anger: "They...they all said it's a side effect! If you don't believe me, you can try it!"

Shiraishi E raised her hands in a gesture of surrender, but the smile in her eyes was impossible to hide.

The neon lights outside the window changed colors, casting their shadows on the wall, gradually merging them into one. At this moment, the organization and the antidote seemed to no longer matter.

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As dawn broke, a thin mist still shrouded the streets of Mika City.

Shiraishi E drove his black sports car smoothly back to the Miyano villa. The car window was half open, and the cool morning breeze brushed against his cheeks, but it couldn't dispel the faint smile on his lips.

In the passenger seat, Ai was holding a stack of research materials and flipping through them.

Her short, brown hair swayed slightly with the car's gentle movements, and her icy blue eyes were focused intently on the pages, yet she would occasionally glance at the man in the driver's seat out of the corner of her eye.

"Tsk." She suddenly frowned and pinched Shiraishi E's thigh hard.

"Hiss—" Shiraishi E gasped, almost slipping the steering wheel. "What happened?"

Ai glared at him coldly: "Your expression... you look a little smug?"

Shiraishi E then realized that she was unconsciously reliving the events of the previous night.

He coughed lightly, then looked straight ahead with feigned seriousness: "I was just thinking about today's schedule."

"Heh." Ai withdrew her hand and continued flipping through the documents: "Don't tell anyone about what happened last night, understand?"

Shiraishi E's lips curled up slightly: "Don't worry, I definitely won't talk about such things carelessly."

He paused, then said in a mocking tone, "If word really got out, some mysterious force would seal me away."

Ai's fingertips tightened slightly, causing the edge of the paper to wrinkle.

“If your sister asks—” Shiraishi E tactfully added, “I’ll just say you’re observing their reactions after taking it.”

"Hmph," Ai snorted softly, her tense shoulders relaxing slightly. "That's more like it."

A brief silence fell over the car, broken only by the hum of the engine and the rustling of papers turning over.

Ai's gaze fell on the document, but she didn't read a single word.

As she recalled her impulsive actions last night, the tips of her ears began to burn again.

She simply couldn't believe she had done such a thing.

This is completely unlike her!

—It must be a side effect of the medication.
She repeatedly tried to convince herself.

—Yes, it must be the antidote affecting hormone secretion, leading to emotional instability.

—This abnormal reaction needs to be recorded in the experimental data.
However, when she stole a glance at Shiraishi E's profile, her heart still raced uncontrollably.

The morning light streamed through the car window, casting a soft line on his silhouette. This realization only fueled her frustration, so she began flipping through documents with a loud rustling sound.

Sensing the change in atmosphere, Shiraishi E spoke up at the opportune moment: "By the way, why can't Conan turn back?"

Ai breathed a sigh of relief, her tone returning to its usual calm: "The APTX4869 he took is different from the version others took, so the antidote is ineffective against him."

Shiraishi E nodded thoughtfully.

He recalled Eisaku Tokiwa's numerous iterations and updates to the drug; the current APTX4869 was vastly different from the original APTX4868.

“If Conan took version 1.0,” Ai explained, her fingers unconsciously tracing the edge of the document, “then Kogoro Mouri and the others took version 4.0. The drug structure is too different, so the existing antidote naturally won’t work.”

"What a pitiful child," Shiraishi E remarked half-jokingly, "She'll be a primary school student forever."

Ai shook her head: "It may not be a bad thing. Other people's antidotes may not be completely stable either, and we need to continue to observe the possible side effects."

She looked out the window at the rapidly receding scenery, her voice softening slightly: "The duration of the drug's effects, the body's tolerance, and the risk of it shrinking again all require more clinical data."

Shiraishi E nodded knowingly and said no more.

Silence fell over the car again, but this time the atmosphere was much more relaxed.

The morning mist gradually dissipated, and sunlight shone through the clouds onto the windshield. The outline of the Miyano villa was already faintly visible, and all the morning light and unspoken thoughts along the way would be carefully preserved in the tacit understanding between the two.

(End of this chapter)