Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Gin chose to press for answers.

Sano, on the other hand, mumbled incoherently.

...Judging from the sound, is this guy brushing his teeth?

While talking to yourself on the phone, you went to brush your teeth?

After taking a deep breath, Gin chose to hang up the phone directly.

Since it's already confirmed that Sano is still alive, as for how he survived...

It doesn't matter anymore.

"Vodka's gone."

Vodka, who had been dozing off in the front row, instantly woke up after Gin answered the phone and nodded in agreement.

But as the car started, Vodka's thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the previous night.

After taking advantage of the opportunity created by Sano to withdraw to Japan, Gin and Vodka immediately went to complete a low-level mission, and then went to a bar for drinks.

Midway through the meal, Vermouth, disguised as a waitress, secretly poisoned their drinks, but was discovered by Gin and had her mask torn off, revealing herself.

Gin and Vermouth then exchanged some sarcastic remarks, followed by a casual chat, before finally getting down to business—the mission to Amelica.

rye.

“I heard from Rum that this whole thing was your idea. What exactly are you trying to do?”

Gin's eyes were somewhat cold and questioning. The matter he was referring to was partly about Amelia's operation, but not entirely about this mission.

The main reason is that there are two very unreasonable aspects to this task.

First, they entered the country through public channels. This might not be a big deal under other circumstances, but since it was already determined that war was going to break out, it was a different story.

That would be a bit wrong to continue doing that.

Another one is the final scene where Sano goes to "challenge" the FBI.

Originally, Gin did not agree with Sano doing such a thing, but later Rum called him and, after inquiring about the situation and learning about the "challenge," told him not to interfere.

Chapter 375, Section 374: Kurosawa's "Brothers"

This was something Gin found somewhat incomprehensible.

Especially after learning that Rum did this entirely because of Vermouth.

Gin was even more puzzled.

...Because let alone Vermouth, even Gin, the leader of the action group, doesn't have the authority to order Rum to do things, unless she comes up with a sufficiently good reason to persuade him, or even further, obtain the consent of someone higher up.

Therefore, Gin is now very curious about what reason Vermouth is giving.

Vermouth's next answer, however, surprised Gin.

"It's simple, just testing the waters with rye."

A test?

Gin frowned: "What, you think there's something wrong with him?"

"uh-huh."

Vermouth nodded in confirmation.

"What's the reason?"

"It's nothing, I just happened to see him with Shuichi Akai."

"……What did you say?"

"Hmm, don't be so nervous."

Vermouth chuckled, “I noticed he seemed to not even know Shuichi Akai, so I was curious about his stance. That’s why I told Rum about it and asked him to deliberately send Rye to America so he could have a chance to contact the FBI and draw conclusions from his reaction.”

...So that's how it is.

Gin understood what had happened and sneered, "So, what was the result?"

"As a result, all of the more than one hundred FBI agents who left with Rye went to the hospital, apparently after being attacked by a high-explosive bomb."

Vermouth replied... Actually, in principle, she shouldn't need to explain this matter. However, after Gin got off the plane, he called Sano but no one answered, so he assumed that Sano had already boarded a flight back home.

Now that it's clear that everything was Vermouth's doing, it proves that she has a way to get information about the "scene," so Gin asked her in advance.

Vermouth's answer was something Gin had anticipated.

Whether it's the outcome of a challenge or a test, it's the same... Although Gin opposes the former, it's only because he's never been willing to do something so risky and successful.

There's nothing strange about that.

"Dudu-"

Suddenly, Vermouth pulled out her phone, glanced at it, and then paused noticeably, looking at Gin with some hesitation, which made him frown again.

"What is it now?"

"Rum's text message: the infiltrator planted in the FBI has sent the latest information."

After closing her phone, Vermouth's hand quietly reached for the pistol.

"The rye is dead."

The air fell into a sudden, deathly silence. Vodka was so startled that his sunglasses almost fell off, and Gin sat up straight: "What do you mean by that?"

"What do you mean the rye is dead!?"

Facing Gin's icy gaze, Vermouth slightly hunched over, entering a state of alert, and explained what she knew about the situation.

One of the FBI agents who happened to be one of the "hunts down" on Rye, and also an undercover member planted by the organization, was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. After regaining consciousness, he took the opportunity to send back the intelligence.

"Rye detonated the bomb at close range and was blown to pieces."

...That madman, how dare he do this, it's simply incomprehensible!

While Vermouth was horrified by Rye's madness, she couldn't help but feel a headache coming on... because it was now almost certain that the other party couldn't be an undercover agent, but in order to confirm this, someone had been killed. Whether it was a pity or not was another matter.

The key point is that Vermouth doesn't think Gin, knowing the outcome, will simply let the matter pass by unnoticed.

Fortunately, Gin did not directly hold Vermouth accountable afterward.

I just don't know if they're planning to settle scores later, or something else entirely.

As his thoughts drifted back, Vodka couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion. Ever since he started hanging out with Gin, he didn't think he had ever seen the other man so out of control.

The phone calls kept coming in one after another.

In addition to calls to Sano himself, some were made to Alika's intelligence personnel, the purpose of which was naturally to gather information about the other party.

Regardless, Gin seemed unwilling to believe that Sano was dead.

Gin, who ultimately got nowhere, even went so far as to stake out Gin's place.

...I wonder if my older brother would react the same way if I were in that situation in the future, Vodka began to imagine.

Vodka had to admit he was a little sour.

Later, as Gin relaxed a bit, his thoughts unconsciously drifted back to the previous night.

That was before Vermouth brought up...the important matter.

"I ran into a really interesting guy today. Would you like to know who it is?"

Vermouth's mocking expression at the time made Gin feel a little strange.

Because Vermouth should know that Gin isn't the type to enjoy gossip, unless the "guy" he's referring to is a special case.

For example... Shuichi Akai?

Before Gin could even speak, Vermouth had already given her answer.

"It's a guy named Kurosawa."

Kurosawa?

Does it share the same surname as yours?

But what's so strange about that?

While the surname Kurosawa isn't very common, it's not exactly rare either.

Seeing Gin's nonchalant expression, Vermouth's smile widened, and she then recounted the story of Kurosawa dodging bullets... Of course, she glossed over the bus hijacking incident.

After all, this matter involves too many people. If Gin gets serious and starts investigating, then Vermouth's current disguised identity will be questioned.

Key plans will also be disrupted.

Of course, Vermouth could have chosen not to mention it and avoided the risk altogether... but she just couldn't suppress her restless heart.

This is just so damn intriguing!

This applies to both Gin's reaction and Kurosawa's true identity.

"Hey Gin, you don't actually have a younger brother that you've never told me about, do you?"

Faced with Vermouth's probing, Gin was initially stunned, but his face darkened.

Others might not know, but surely Gin himself knows whether he has a younger brother or not.

This guy is clearly using a fake name!

As for the purpose... it's definitely not going to be anything good.

Through this incident, Gin at least learned that "Black Mask" had very likely already discovered his real name, even though he had never intentionally hidden it from him before.

It seems the other party's reach extends deeper than I imagined.

Heh, that's interesting.

...Even after Gin made that statement, Vermouth still looked skeptical.

"Are you sure you really don't have a younger brother, and not deliberately hiding it to avoid others knowing about your family scandal? Or perhaps your brother was lost when you were very young, and your father never even told you, so you simply don't know?"

This further enraged Gin.

"Shut up, Vermouth!"