Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Takagi Wataru paused for a moment, then looked at Mouri Ran beside him. Realizing what he was doing, he awkwardly scratched his head – he should be by Mouri Ran's side at all times now.

Sano withdrew his gaze and continued walking out.

Ran Mouri watched Sano's retreating figure, her eyes filled with worry and a hint of confusion.

"Mom, tell me, why did that senior go to such lengths to save me? He almost fell off the tracks just a hair's breadth away."

"what?"

Eri Kisaki snapped out of her reverie and listened to her daughter's question with a hesitant expression: "This... I'm afraid it's not a question I can answer."

Ran Mouri didn't say anything more, but just kept looking in the direction Sano left, while Conan next to her tilted his head back, feeling inexplicably lost and melancholy.

...To be honest, if Ran Mouri were in a crisis and Conan had to choose whether to trade his life for hers, he would choose yes without hesitation.

The problem now is that Conan hasn't even had the chance to choose.

Instead, Sano took it.

It's not that Sano almost lost his life to save Ran Mouri, and Conan blamed him for not saving her.

I just feel... a bit off.

But then again, was it just an instinctive reaction for Sano to take such a risk to save someone?

...Could it be that this guy has actually fallen for her??

Conan felt a sudden tightness in his chest, a strong sense of crisis stimulating his brain.

If that's the case, what should I do? If I were to fight it, would I have a chance of winning?

"By the way, Xiaolan, how are you feeling? Were you scared or is anything bothering you? Should we go to the hospital to get checked out?"

While Conan was distracted, Takagi Wataru and Kisaki Eri, who were standing nearby, finally remembered that there was a patient who needed their care and asked about Ran Mouri's feelings.

Conan snapped out of his daze, stamped his foot in frustration, realizing he was too late again!

Have to admit.

Faced with this ambiguous situation, Conan is getting a little anxious.

……

Mihana General Hospital.

Accompanied by Kyosuke Kazato, Sano had X-rays taken, which confirmed a fracture in his right shoulder, and a cast and bandage were applied.

They arrived at Kyosuke Kazato's office.

"How did you get this injury? If you can't control your behavior and are prone to self-harm, I suggest you stop investigating any cases and go back to the hospital as soon as possible."

Seeing Kyosuke Kazato's gentle advice, Sano lit a cigarette: "It'll be soon. I've got a crucial lead on the culprit; all that's left is to arrest him."

"Yeah."

Kyosuke Kazato was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "As expected of you."

"By the way, I heard that Dr. Kazato used to be the chief surgeon in the operating room, but after some accidents, he transferred to the cardiology department at Beika General Hospital, is that right?"

Sano's sudden question made Kazato Kyosuke's smile stiffen slightly, but after a moment of silence, he nodded in acknowledgment.

"……Yes."

"Which hospital did you work at before coming to Mihana General Hospital?"

"...The First Affiliated Hospital of Southeast University".

"Oh, you're from the same hospital as Nino Yasushi. By the way, do you know Nino Yasushi, Dr. Kazato?"

"..."

Kyosuke Kazato stopped answering, his head lowered so his expression was unreadable. After a long silence, he finally looked up and said, "You can just say what you have to say."

Sano flicked his cigarette ash and laughed, "You want me to speak my mind? Why don't you just speak your mind?"

"I won't go into other things, but it's one thing to sneak around pushing people at the station, but you don't even dare to show your name when you send me a package. You're really a coward."

Faced with Sano's sarcasm, Kazato Kyosuke showed no panic, simply saying in a calm tone, "I don't understand what you're saying."

"If you don't understand, then say something you can understand."

Chapter 218, Section 217: After all, I'm not some kind of murderer.

Sano stubbed out his cigarette: "Dr. Kazato, your hand was cut by Nino Yasushi, wasn't it? That's why you switched to being a psychiatrist, because you can no longer hold a knife."

"Are you simply resenting him for this, or did you hear something, like rumors that he actually did it on purpose, which made you hard-hearted enough to get rid of him?"

Kyosuke Kazato narrowed his eyes: "Hmm, now that you mention it, I do remember that happened. But so what? Do you have any evidence that I killed him?"

"If not, why were you in such a hurry to silence those three policemen?"

Sano calmly lit another cigarette, but didn't smoke it. He just held it in his hand and played with it, as if he were burning incense.

As for who it was burned for, well...

"Even putting all that aside, you didn't cover your face when you attacked Sato Miwako, right? Maybe you were worried that the police would come looking for you because of this thing, or maybe you thought that since the lights were out, there was no need to pretend."

Kyosuke Kazato pursed his lips, leaned forward slightly, and looked directly at Sano: "So after all this talk, what exactly is the evidence, Sano? You're a detective. You can't just rely on your abnormal brain to make up your own ideas without evidence."

An abnormal brain?

Sano grinned and turned to look directly at Kazato Kyosuke: "After all this, you still don't understand? The evidence is Ran Mouri, you idiot."

"what?"

After a moment of surprise, Kazato Kyosuke feigned anger and laughed, "Miss Mori has already lost her memory. To put it bluntly, she's just like you—not mentally sound. Are you planning to have her give false testimony for you?"

"Just cure the amnesia, right?"

Sano's smile grew even more sarcastic: "The fact that you're in such a hurry to act proves that restoring Ran Mouri's memories isn't difficult, and she might even recover on her own in just a few days."

Seeing that Kazato Kyosuke's face was starting to look grim, Sano simply delivered the fatal blow: "To put it more bluntly, going to the crime scene to stimulate her brain, would it really damage her brain instead of having an effective positive effect, Kazato... Doctor?"

"..."

A silence fell over the office.

Kyosuke Kazato suddenly exhaled, then, as if all his strength had been drained, he leaned back in his chair, saying with a wry smile, "I lost. You are indeed very capable, Shinichiro Sano."

"What I find strange is that since you've already found the breakthrough, why didn't you just bring the police to arrest me, instead of coming to find me alone?"

"Because I'm not entirely sure you're the murderer yet, I naturally need to come here for a final test."

Sano replied in this way.

"Yeah."

Kyosuke Kazato suddenly laughed, and pulled out a silenced pistol from under the table. He aimed it at Sano across from him, revealing a brutal expression.

"So, in other words, you're the only one who knows the truth about this matter so far, right??"

"Hahaha, Shinichiro Sano, you really are arrogant and conceited. It's a pity you didn't expect that I would have a gun."

"As long as I kill you, then make up some excuse that someone broke in and shot you, and finally find a chance to get rid of that troublesome girl, everything will be over!"

However, Sano showed no surprise when faced with Kyosuke Kazato's dark gun barrel; instead, his smile became more mocking.

"You had already killed three people before attacking Sato Miwako, which is enough to prove that you have a strong mentality. But you dropped your pistol at that time and nothing unexpected happened. Do you think I didn't know that you had other firearms?"

"what?"

Kyosuke Kazato paused for a moment, then a look of surprise appeared in his eyes: "So you knew I had a gun, then why did you... Could it be that you were deliberately trying to lure me out, and there are already police lying in ambush outside!?"

Seeing that Kazato Kyosuke had suddenly become nervous, Sano casually waved his hand: "No, no, no, I really am the only one who came today."

"You probably didn't understand what I meant."

Sano threw away the burnt-out cigarette, stood up, and his cold eyes contrasted sharply with his smile.

"I mean."

"If I don't let you take out your gun, how can I act openly, honestly, and legitimately..."

Sano, who was explaining the reason word by word, suddenly sprang up, straddled the desk, and pressed down on Kazato Kyosuke.

"I'll kill you!!"

Kyosuke Kazato never expected that Sano would deliberately rush towards the gun, especially since he was still in shock from hearing what Sano had just said.

Faced with Sano's sudden attack, Kyosuke Kazato panicked and pulled the trigger repeatedly.

However, apart from the first shot hitting Sano's right arm, which was in a cast, Kazato Kyosuke's next two bullets were actually dodged by Sano twisting his body.

...That first bullet was, of course, deliberately fired by Sano.

Otherwise, how can we prove the urgency of the situation and the legitimacy of the defense?

Sano didn't even use the Hammer of Justice; he grabbed Kyosuke Kazato by the hair, who was terrified by the scene before him, and slammed him against the corner of the desk.

With a loud thud, a terrible scream rang out, blood splattered out, and Sano was hit a second time without stopping.

Then came the third, fourth, and fifth blows, until Kazato Kyosuke's forehead was almost completely dented, but Sano still didn't stop.

...To be honest, even though Kazato Kyosuke had personally sent him to the psychiatric ward earlier, Sano had never actually intended to kill him.

After all, Sano isn't some kind of psychopathic killer. Like Gin, his moral standards are shockingly low every day, so how could he possibly be thinking about killing people all the time?

...Whether Gin has any moral bottom line or not is another matter entirely.

In any case, Sano was just a little annoyed because he was threatened by the other party.

But the situation is different now.

Kyosuke Kazato first sent himself a threatening package—though it was useless, he did do it—and then attempted to murder Ran Mouri, causing Sano to be hit by a train.

Given that he was shot earlier, it would be perfectly reasonable for Sano to kill the other party, right?

That's right, just as Sano said before.

This matter is entirely aboveboard, aboveboard, and perfectly legitimate.

...From the moment he came into this world until now, Sano's killing intent this time has reached a rare peak.

This murderous intent was simply the desire to kill someone.

It's not because of various factors that forced them to kill a particular person, otherwise things would have been different.