Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

"So it really was just a misunderstanding!"

The man offered his reasoning: "How could I possibly risk my life for a cousin? So as long as you let me go, I promise I'll never mess with you again... Oh, and I have a lot of money. You can have it all if you don't kill me!"

"Oh."

Sano paused for a moment, then smiled: "Don't worry, I never intended to kill you, so..."

The lollipop was offered to the man's mouth again: "Eat this symbol of reconciliation."

The man's breath hitched; he never expected Sano to bring the focus back to the present.

But is what the other party just said really credible?

The man didn't know the answer, nor did he have the opportunity to choose one.

Finally, he could only open his mouth with trembling lips and let Sano put the lollipop in.

"The symbol of reconciliation cannot be taken down, or people will die."

After offering a friendly reminder, Sano turned and left, only pretending to be somewhat surprised when he saw Shuichi Akai and Taka Ito behind him.

"What, aren't you two going to run away? Don't blame me if the police arrest you later."

Sano drew their attention back to the two of them.

However, before they could speak, a loud noise drew their attention back to the scene.

Turning his head, he saw flames shooting out from the man in the suit's face, a moment of brilliance before disappearing, leaving only a headless corpse that collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"...What a pity, I told him to eat it obediently."

Hearing Sano's sigh, Shuichi Akai and Taka Ito's lips twitched simultaneously.

Damn it.

So what this guy was carrying in someone's mouth was actually a bomb?!

This is insane.

You might as well just kill him.

Besides, who would make a bomb into the shape of a lollipop... or hide a bomb inside a lollipop?

You'd only do something like that if you're bored and have nothing better to do.

Aren't you afraid of accidentally ingesting it?

...Although being able to do this kind of thing seems quite...no, it should be said that it is very capable.

How did this guy manage to do that?

As the two began to ponder how to make those candy bombs, they were about to ask Sano himself when, to their surprise, he had already vanished.

"..."

This guy ran away without even a peep?

"Beep beep beep..."

After twitching his lips for what felt like the umpteenth time, Shuichi Akai exchanged a glance with Taka Ito.

They both immediately understood each other's meaning, and without any hesitation, they went their separate ways.

Why not run away, just wait to get caught?

Didn't you see that lunatic was running faster than anyone else?

……

The next day, at the antique café, Conan, who had finally turned back into a primary school student, was telling Sano about what happened the day before.

"You have no idea what happened yesterday. I was just about to have dinner with Xiaolan when a case suddenly occurred. After finally solving the case, I suddenly shrank and passed out."

"But just when I was unconscious, that rye appeared at the observation restaurant and was fighting with someone on the first floor. Haibara was really something, she didn't even call me, she just dragged Ran away by herself and almost let the two of them run into something."

Conan grumbled with a resentful expression, but the core issues boiled down to just two points.

First, he shrank again.

Second, he missed an opportunity to get in touch with members of the organization, especially Rye.

As for Conan's accusations, Ai Haibara just curled her lip in disdain.

This guy, not only doesn't thank me, but he also talks so much nonsense.

If it weren't for me, the "headless corpse" at the Beika Central Building yesterday might have turned into two, one large and one small.

...The details of both cases yesterday have already been reported in the media.

The "case" that rye brought up later has confirmed that the cause of death of the last person was the explosion that came from his mouth... In short, that pervert actually stuffed a bomb into someone's mouth.

It could have been solved much more easily, but we went to unnecessary lengths.

Who would believe this guy isn't a pervert?

However, the matter is now considered to be in the past, so Ai Haibara naturally didn't want to waste her breath on Conan.

After being carried away by Jodie yesterday, Ai Haibara immediately contacted Ran Mouri by phone and agreed to meet at the underground parking lot. However, because Conan was still not awake at the time, she had to continue disguising herself as him and return to the Mouri Detective Agency with the Mouri father and daughter.

Fortunately, nothing happened overnight. Conan, who arrived at the Mouri Detective Agency early, also swapped identities with Ai Haibara.

And with that, everything came to an end.

Ai Haibara took a sip of black tea and sighed deeply. Yesterday had really exhausted her.

...Even though Ai Haibara didn't actually do much, she was still tired.

"Oh, right."

Conan suddenly reached out to Ai Haibara, a smile on his face: "Give it to me."

"what?"

"What else could it be but the antidote, of course!"

Looking at Conan's matter-of-fact expression, Ai Haibara rolled her eyes: "Impossible."

"why?"

Conan panicked when he heard that Ai Haibara was unwilling to give him the antidote.

"What else could it be? Because you idiot completely don't understand your situation. Sano was clearly there that day, yet you still insisted on showing off. Moreover, the antidote is still under development, and there's no guarantee of safety if you continue to take it. Even if there is, long-term use will lead to drug resistance."

As she spoke, Ai Haibara narrowed her eyes: "Even if I do manage to develop a perfect antidote by then, it probably won't work on you."

...Ai Haibara's words were not entirely without reason, but it wouldn't be fair to say they were entirely true either.

Intimidation probably accounted for about half of the factors.

However, it did indeed scare Conan.

After all, nothing scares Conan more than the idea of ​​"never being able to turn back."

Conan can tell the difference between temporarily growing bigger and growing bigger forever.

"Honestly, I thought this time it would be a permanent change, but I didn't expect it to turn back in the end."

Hearing Conan's mutterings, Sano raised an eyebrow and said in surprise, "How could it possibly turn back permanently? This is just a temporary antidote."

"Hey?"

Conan was also taken aback: "What temporary antidote? Isn't it an antidote that's still under development?"

"Isn't this a temporary antidote?"

Sano felt he couldn't quite understand Conan's line of thinking.

Conan also felt that he couldn't quite understand Sano's line of thinking.

"...It is indeed a temporary antidote, and it is also an antidote in the research and development stage."

Ai Haibara, the developer of the antidote, finally made a definitive statement: "Because this is a stage in the complete antidote, there may be a certain chance that it will make you grow bigger forever, but this chance is negligible."

"Therefore, to be more precise, this antidote is indeed only a temporary antidote."

After Ai Haibara's explanation, Conan nodded thoughtfully: "I see."

Sano's doubts were also resolved: "I knew you were lucky not to shrink after you fainted that day, so how did you dare to run to school the next day?"

"I thought you were an idiot, but it turns out you thought you wouldn't turn back."

Hearing Sano's sarcasm, Conan's lips twitched, he opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't say anything more.

"Ring ring!"

The wind chimes hanging at the door rang, and Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki pushed the door open and came over to Sano and the other two, which brought the topic to an end... although the topic eventually returned to what happened last night.

When Sonoko Suzuki heard that Ran Mouri had gone to the Beika Central Building with Shinichi Kudo the night before, she was initially quite scared and worried about her.

Chapter 327, 326, Sano: "Hacking Accounts" with Skill

But given Sonoko Suzuki's personality, once she starts worrying, her focus naturally shifts very quickly.

"Hey Ran, what did you and Shinichi do at the observation restaurant?"

Sonoko Suzuki poked Ran Mouri's waist with her elbow, her face full of gossip, indicating that she wanted to hear some gossip.

Ran Mouri wasn't shy this time, but said with some dejection and helplessness that they hadn't done anything, and she didn't know what the other party meant by inviting her to dinner.

"...Shinichi originally said he had something to say to me. I thought he wanted to borrow my notes from this period, but he said no. Later, a case happened, so he went to solve it. Then Conan told me that Shinichi was leaving. When I followed Conan to the first floor, another gunfight broke out."

"What? I thought I was going to hear something more interesting."

Unsatisfied with her gossip, Sonoko Suzuki complained, "And that reasoning fanatic too! He ran off before he even finished speaking. It's really unbecoming!"

Ran Mouri remained silent in the face of Sonoko Suzuki's "defense."

Conan's expression darkened as he looked at the silent Ran Mouri.

Sano, watching Conan and Ran Mouri from the side, could probably guess how complicated the feelings of the two involved must be right now.

"So, what do you think that guy wanted to say to you?"

Sano suddenly smiled and said, "Confess your feelings, or perhaps, propose?"

"Why!??"