Traveling back thirty years to Conan, intercepting Princess Eri

A cool breeze was blowing on the streets late at night.

Hattori Heizo, clutching the syringe he'd picked up from the hospital room, fixed his gaze on Ono Kayoko and asked in a low voice, "What's in here?"

Ono Kayoko lowered her head, her long bangs obscuring her eyes, and pursed her lips, remaining silent.

"You're not going to tell me?"

Hattori Heizo frowned, then raised the syringe as if to inject himself into his arm.
"Then I'll have to try it myself and see what this deadly thing is."

"do not want!"

Yoko Ono suddenly raised her head, her eyes red-rimmed and her voice trembling with tears, and hurriedly tried to stop her.

She knew, of course, that Hattori Heizo was deliberately trying to scare her, but she still couldn't bear to watch him take such a risk.
"That's Shi Ning!"

"Shi Ning?" The Imperial Guard Commander beside him looked blank, clearly having never heard of this name before.

Hattori Heizo's expression darkened; he was familiar with this highly toxic drug.

He slowly put down the syringe, explaining to Chief Konoe as he quickly walked to the trash can by the roadside.

"Strychnine, also known as strychnine, is a highly toxic alkaloid. It can selectively stimulate the spinal cord and increase the tension of skeletal muscles. Once injected with more than 30 milligrams at once, it can cause severe symptoms such as muscle rigidity and generalized convulsions, and eventually lead to death either from respiratory failure and suffocation or from cardiac arrest."

As he spoke, he pointed the syringe at the ground, slowly pushed the piston, and squeezed out all the clear liquid inside.

The liquid dripped onto the cement floor and quickly seeped away.

Hattori Heizo repeatedly confirmed that the syringe was empty and that even if someone accidentally pricked him, there would be no danger, before throwing the syringe into the trash can.

Having done all this, he turned around and looked at Ono Kayoko again, his tone still serious.

"Strychnine is strictly controlled in hospitals and is usually used to treat conditions like hemiplegia and amblyopia. Where did you get this?"

Ono Kayoko fell silent again, her shoulders trembling slightly, but she still refused to answer.

Seeing her refusal to communicate, Hattori Heizo's anger flared up.

He stepped forward, grabbed Ono Kayoko's wrist, and pulled her towards the spot where the car had crashed.

Seeing this, the Imperial Guard Commander quickly followed.

"look by youself!"

Hattori Heizo pulled Ono Kayoko to the SUV that had been wrecked beyond recognition, pointed at the front of the car, and spoke with suppressed anger.

"To stop you from making a terrible mistake, the Imperial Guard and I almost died here!"

Following the direction he pointed, Ono Yoshiko looked and saw that the front half of the black SUV had been completely deformed from the impact. A large section of the front of the car was dented, the windshield was shattered into a spider web pattern, the body was covered with scratches and dents, and parts were scattered all over the ground. It looked like a terrible sight.

Her pupils contracted instantly, and she immediately understood the danger the two of them had just experienced.

Such a severe collision could easily result in a fatal accident.

"you……"

The girl's voice trembled slightly, her eyes instantly reddened, and tears welled up in them.

"I... I'm not worth you doing this for. I really am not worth it..." "Whether it's worth it or not is not up to you to decide."

Hattori Heizo's face was stern, and his tone was firm.

"It was decided by us, your friends. In our hearts, you are an important partner, and we would never stand by and watch you take your own life."

Ono Kayoko looked at the wrecked car in front of her, then at the two worried boys in front of her. It felt like something had hit her hard in the heart. A warm feeling and guilt intertwined, making it impossible for her to hold on any longer.

She sniffed, her voice choked with emotion, and slowly said, "This medicine was obtained from the hospital where my mother is staying. It's for treating my mother's paralysis."

"Your mother?"

Hattori Heizo and Konoe Taishi exchanged a glance; this was the first time they had heard Ono Kayoko mention her family situation.

At school, Ono Kayoko was always alone and introverted. She never talked about her family with her classmates. Everyone thought she was just a loner, but they never expected that she had so many things hidden behind her.

"What exactly happened?" Hattori Heizo's tone softened. "Why did you want to kill Mito Shinzo?"

"It's all his fault! It's all because of him!"

Upon hearing the name Mito Shinzo, Ono Kayoko's emotions instantly surged, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

"He killed my mother! If it weren't for him, my mother wouldn't have died!"

"Is it because of the fire at the Sennichimae Department Store ten years ago?" Hattori Heizo pondered for a moment and asked softly.

When he was investigating the cause of Mito Hayato's death, he learned that the owner of Sennichimae Department Store was Mito Shinzo, and that the fire had caused many casualties and had a huge impact.

Yoko Ono nodded gently, tears blurring her vision.

“Kawada told me before that you have burn scars on your back.”

Hattori Heizo's tone was cautious, as if he were afraid of touching her wound.
"Was it also because of that fire?"

Yoko Ono nodded again. She had never told any of her classmates about these long-buried memories, bearing them all alone.

Now that she has spoken, there is no need for her to continue hiding it.

Yoko Ono took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and spoke slowly, her voice heavy with memories.
"Ten years ago, my birthday was approaching. My parents took me to Sennichimae Department Store to celebrate and wanted to buy me a beautiful dress as a birthday present. But not long after we entered the department store, a fire suddenly broke out in the building."

Her voice trembled slightly, as if she had returned to that day filled with flames.

"The fire spread very quickly, thick smoke billowed out, and there were screams and cries everywhere."

"To protect my mother and me, my father used all his strength to rescue us from the fire."

"But he himself was trapped in the fire and never came out... In the end, he was burned alive inside."

At this point, Ono Kayoko's sobs grew louder, and her shoulders heaved violently.

"Although my mother and I were lucky enough to be rescued, my mother suffered damage to her nervous system due to inhaling excessive amounts of toxic fumes, and has been paralyzed in bed ever since, never able to stand up again."

"For the next ten years, my mother lived in the hospital. In order to pay for her treatment, I sold the house, car, and all other valuables that my father had left me."

"Even so, the treatment costs are still far from enough. I work desperately every day, saving every penny I can to pay for my mother's treatment, but it's still a drop in the bucket." (End of Chapter)