Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Sano tilted his head, wondering if the only difference between a cat's and a human's perspective was height. In any case, apart from feeling that the objects around him were magnified many times, he didn't feel any discomfort.

Even in terms of hearing, smell, touch, and walking and jumping, it is almost the same as before, and it still has an instinctive proficiency without any awkwardness.

It's as if I'm just a cat.

Its tail continued to wag unconsciously, and even its whiskers twitched involuntarily.

Sano shrank back, came to his senses, and immediately jumped onto the window that wasn't completely closed for ventilation, then jumped down without any hesitation.

With his light body and the cat's own strong balance, Sano landed very smoothly on the ground. His two shock-absorbing paw pads didn't make him feel anything unusual.

What a wonderful experience.

Sano wagged her tail as she walked with elegant cat-like steps.

In fact, the experiment with the black cat form was simpler than that with the cat demon form, and it should have been over by now.

But the feeling was too novel, so Sano decided to use this form to wander all the way back to the hospital.

The ground trembled slightly, and the roar made Sano feel as if he had entered an earthquake simulation. Huge cars rushed past him like monsters, and the thought of being crushed made the hairs on Sano's body stand on end.

...The world of cats seems a bit scary.

Although under normal circumstances, Sano doesn't seem to feel any difference in his perception of things in black cat form compared to human form, it is still more sensitive.

Especially when everything around you is magnified, the sense of crisis always feels inexplicably strong.

Sano finally felt a little uncomfortable, so he jumped up again and leaped onto the roadside wall to advance from above.

Although he was already feeling a bit uncomfortable, Sano didn't intend to change back. Instead, he planned to work on the relationship some more and get used to it.

After all, the black cat form is far more useful than the cat demon form.

Putting aside the fact that these small animals have a great advantage in stealth, the fact that this place was originally a hassle for Sano is enough to change things.

That's the problem of not having enough aliases.

It's not that Sano really needs a lot of aliases, it's just that sometimes none of these aliases are suitable for showing his face.

While Sano could create a fake identity as a passerby, if he showed his face too much, he would definitely no longer be considered a passerby.

Even if wearing a casual hat can temporarily alleviate this problem, it is only a temporary solution, especially in environments with surveillance cameras.

But things are different now.

It's just a cat, who would care?

Isn't this the perfect "Land Cat Vest"?

That's perfectly reasonable.

Sano crossed mountains and seas, and after many hardships, finally arrived near the hospital.

But here, Sano also encountered real trouble—two stray cats that were trying to rob him on the road.

One of the two stray cats is an orange tabby, and the breed of the other cat is unknown to Sano. However, it is known that although both cats are thinner, perhaps due to being strays, they are still larger than Sano in terms of size.

"Meow—"

Two stray cats whimpered as they approached Sano, their outstretched claws indicating their hostile intentions.

Sano compared the size of the two, and considered the rich combat experience of the other party who had been a stray for many years, and compared it with his own unfamiliarity as a cat.

Yeah, we can't beat them.

I'm afraid I can't escape even if I want to, so what can I do?

What else can we do but cheat?

On the wall, the black cat's body suddenly surged and then expanded like a tide, instantly becoming the size of a human.

With its black tail whipping like a whip and its claws extended, Sano bared its teeth at the two stray cats, revealing two sharp canine fangs.

Faced with this incomprehensible scene, the two stray cats instantly bristled, let out a whimper, and fled quickly.

Ha, a tiny stray cat can fight a cat demon?

Sano retracted his claws and then touched his fangs. He hadn't noticed before that he had two extra teeth in his cat demon form.

Ok?

The cat ears on his head twitched, and Sano turned to look at the residential building next to him.

On the first-floor balcony, a young girl was watering the potted plants with a watering can... of course, this was what she was originally doing.

Right now, the girl is staring blankly up at the figure on the wall... which can hardly be considered human.

Because Sano was facing away from the moon, he was backlit, so the girl couldn't see his face clearly and could only see a black outline.

But the girl could still tell that the tail had obviously grown naturally, and the ears.

Especially when Sano looked back, his pair of green cat eyes gleamed faintly, further proving his non-human identity.

Cat demon.

The girl's confused mind finally came to a word, then her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

Sano: "..."

Someone actually saw it.

Fortunately, Sano was still wearing his disguise, and the other party was so frightened that he fainted.

Moreover, there's a limitation: this young girl probably didn't witness the process of herself transforming from a cat into a cat demon.

It's nothing serious, go back to sleep!

Sano transformed back into his black cat form, made a hasty escape, and returned to the hospital.

...While passing through the hospital lobby, Sano was almost grabbed by the nurse on duty to pet the cat, and it took him a lot of effort to shake her off.

Back in the ward, Sano switched back to his original identity and was just about to go to bed when his phone rang again.

It's Gin's number.

Sano narrowed his eyes, roughly knowing why the other party had made the call.

"Hey."

After the call connected, Gin's tone was as cold as ever, and he launched into a scathing critique of Sano's "investigation" and "death in self-defense."

"I have a purpose in doing this."

After Gin finished criticizing him, Sano, who had been letting it go in one ear and out the other, finally came to his senses and explained the situation to him from beginning to end.

Then Gin was even more confused.

...Due to the seriousness of this case, the report came out relatively early, but Gin was busy with his mission all day long, so he only saw it now.

So Gin decided to give Sano a lesson in routine discipline.

This was nothing unusual.

Gin had no idea that Sano's actions this time actually concealed other motives.

Of course, Sano couldn't stay in the hospital any longer and would find a way to get out on his own, which is not a big deal.

But can someone tell Gin that the core members of his organization are to hold official positions?

What the hell is this thing??

Damn it, I just went to the hospital, solved two or three cases, and before I knew it, someone had undermined my foundation.

Was he even discovered by the authorities?

Could you be any more outrageous?

Yes, Sano is just a figurehead without any real position, and this way he can legitimately come out, which is not a problem... but everyone understands the logic.

Whether or not it's acceptable is another question entirely.

"Why didn't you discuss it with me beforehand?"

"The situation is urgent, and we must seize this opportunity."

Sano casually replied... well, actually he just hadn't thought of it at all.

...If I remember correctly, it has been several days since this case became quite a big deal.

Chapter 222, 221: Rye is a deliberate act of revenge!

If Sano really cared, how could he not have time to contact him?

As expected, Gin found a flaw in Sano's answer.

Gin didn't dwell on this loophole, because the event had already happened, or even ended, and there was no point in making hindsight judgments.

"I heard you were shot?"

Gin got down to business—now that Sano's plan had succeeded, even if he was unhappy about something, there was one fact that couldn't be changed.

That means Sano can at least come back and continue doing missions.

...While it remains to be seen whether Sano is actually capable of carrying out the mission, at least the possibility has been established.

So what Gin really can't understand right now is...

Sano actually got shot?

How could someone who could dance awkwardly amidst a hail of bullets be shot by an ordinary person?

Gin simply couldn't understand it.

The newspaper did mention that Sano seemed to have been hit by a train while trying to save someone. Could he have been seriously injured?

...In order to demonstrate camaraderie within the organization and to better understand Sano's current situation, Gin felt it necessary to show concern.

"Well, thankfully, it hit my forearm, so it's not serious. It's the shoulder that got hit, though; it'll probably take a month or so to heal."

Sano explained his situation.

...Speaking of this, Sano couldn't help but want to complain.

It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone or tendon; there's nothing particularly noteworthy about that.

But when Kogoro Mouri was hospitalized with a broken leg, he fully recovered and was discharged in just one week, which Sano really couldn't understand.