Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Before Akai Shuichi could react, he took action first.

Then another greeting rang in Shuichi Akai's ear.

"Hey, good evening."

Shuichi Akai's confident smile and Calvados's astonished expression both froze at the same time.

Turning his head, he saw Sano standing next to Shuichi Akai.

He stretched his neck out, as if he wanted to press his face against Shuichi Akai's face.

...When did this guy get next to me?!

Before Shuichi Akai could think, he retaliated with an elbow strike.

As a result, Sano casually leaned back and easily dodged the attack, while simultaneously launching a counterattack, smashing a swinging punch at Shuichi Akai's head.

Shuichi Akai dodged with a backflip and jumped directly towards the container below.

Sano followed closely behind.

In mid-air, Shuichi Akai pointed his gun at Sano.

"boom!"

Taking to the air is the worst thing you can do in combat.

Because it is difficult to react flexibly and dodge attacks, let alone in a gunfight.

However, Sano was different.

All that could be seen was Sano's entire body, which instantly twisted into an exaggerated arc.

He narrowly escaped a bullet.

Even in the few shots that followed Shuichi Akai's first bullet.

He was also evaded by Sano's twisting movements at the extreme distance.

...Is this guy a monster?!

Shuichi Akai, who had landed first, unleashed his full power, but it was still to no avail.

Sano landed on the container where Shuichi Akai was and charged again, having already emptied his pistol.

Shuichi Akai was able to keep retreating, jumping off several containers in succession.

Take the opportunity to replace the magazines.

The commotion caused by Sano and Shuichi Akai's fight naturally attracted the attention of everyone else present.

Aside from Ran Mouri, Vermouth, Ai Haibara, and Jodie, who had fainted after trembling while holding the fake loli, all turned to look at the two figures that seemed to be moving around on the shipping container like they were in a movie.

Under the light of the fairly round and large moon tonight.

The three of them could barely make out the appearance and attire of the two figures.

"……rye?"

The three of them felt a tightness in their chests as their pupils contracted.

Jodie was alright; she had only heard of Rye and hadn't truly grasped the significance of the codename. Vermouth and Ai Haibara, however, were very clear about it.

Although the latter is simply fueled by fear.

The appearance of rye brings to mind Shuichi Akai.

This undoubtedly makes the situation even more tense.

At least on the surface, Judy's side is at a disadvantage.

Vermouth was unharmed, and Calvados, who should have been ambushed and killed by Shuichi Akai, was also unharmed thanks to the appearance of Rye.

In contrast, Jodie was seriously injured, and Shuichi Akai was held back by Rye.

Conan was fast asleep, Ran Mouri was also sleeping soundly, and Ai Haibara, the only one still awake, was already determined to die, and now that she saw rye, it was no different from being dead.

A major crisis has occurred...

Judy's face was somber, but Vermouth's heart was even heavier.

Because these guys weren't the reinforcements Vermouth summoned at all!

This operation could very well involve Shinichi Kudo, who has become Conan. If it weren't for Shuichi Akai and his FBI agents, and if Calvados weren't such a sycophant, Vermouth wouldn't have wanted anyone involved at all.

Not to mention that mad dog, Rye.

If Rye finds out that Shinichi Kudo took that drug and shrunk, what if Rye finds out?

Will they, like last time, pretend not to see it, without taking it too seriously?

That's not something Vermouth can decide.

Even a one in ten thousand chance of danger would be enough to make Vermouth wary.

Meanwhile, Calvados above had already turned his gun on Shuichi Akai.

However, this guy moved too fast.

In addition, Sano's "obstruction" prevented Calvados from even attempting to shoot.

Damn it!

Shuichi Akai had already emptied another magazine of bullets, but all of them still missed the target.

While cursing under his breath, the ten-second pullback had calmed the FBI agent down. He threw away his pistol, stopped retreating, and instead engaged Sano in close combat.

The two sides quickly exchanged two rounds of punches and kicks.

Taking advantage of his previous lead, Sano forced Shuichi Akai to retreat repeatedly.

However, relying solely on the boost of his 100 agility attribute and Sano's own close combat skills, it would be difficult to truly suppress Shuichi Akai.

Not to mention that Rye's body was still injured.

As expected, Shuichi Akai has gradually adjusted his state.

If this continues, the final result will most likely be the same as last time.

Unfortunately...

This time is different from the last time.

Sano's swing punch was blocked, but his hand suddenly loosened, and the two lollipops then smashed towards Shuichi Akai's head with the momentum... What was he thinking?

Trying to kill yourself with a lollipop?

While Akai Shuichi was momentarily stunned, Sano had already retreated several meters away.

Suddenly, Shuichi Akai remembered the incident at the Beika Central Building.

……Grass!

Shuichi Akai hurriedly lunged towards the other container.

"boom!!"

The two small flames vanished in an instant.

Before Akai Shuichi could even get up, Sano pounced on him again, delivering a powerful side kick that sent him flying onto the other side of a container, where he rolled several times.

After barely managing to get up and block Sano's next attack, Shuichi Akai discovered something else.

Two lollipop handles were visible inside Sano's tightly clenched fist.

...Damn it, how am I supposed to fight this??

It wasn't until Shuichi Akai jumped from the container to the ground where Vermouth and the others were that he seized the opportunity and launched a backflip kick at Sano's head.

Sano turned his head to dodge, but his hat was kicked off.

The two figures landed one after the other, with a difference of only one second.

Among the people present, some had seen Sano Rye's face before, while others had not.

But the face of the rye bears a knife scar.

This is truly the first time I've ever seen this.

Sano raised his chin and grinned at Shuichi Akai. Blood was even seeping from the bright red scar on the left corner of his mouth... It was only because he had a special attack suit that he could speed up the recovery of his injuries; otherwise, it would have only been a day.

I'm afraid even Sano's face might not be presentable.

“Reopening someone’s wounds is not a good habit, Shuichi.”

Sano touched the scar on his face, his complaint tinged with an unusually affectionate address.

This caused Shuichi Akai's lips to twitch.

...The scar looked very "fresh," as if it had been inflicted just a few days ago.

With this guy's monster evasion rate, he can even dodge bullets.

Who on earth could do something like this?

Faced with Shuichi Akai's silence and wariness, Sano glanced at Vermouth, who was equally astonished by the scar on his face... After all, he had taken off his hat when they had dinner at the coffee shop a few days ago.

At that time, Sano's face was still very young.

Of course, none of that matters.

After turning his gaze away from Vermouth, Sano suddenly shot away the pistol that Judy was about to reach for, then slightly adjusted the muzzle and aimed it at her head.

"Put down the gun, Shuichi."

Shuichi Akai didn't reply, but glanced at the gun that Akai had pointed at Vermouth almost simultaneously.

The meaning is self-evident.

Sano dared to shoot Jodie, and Akai Shuichi shot Vermouth instead.

...Vermouth, who had initially been observing with a detached, almost theatrical, attitude, twitched at the corner of her mouth.

However, Vermouth knew very well that Shuichi Akai probably didn't know.

Using oneself as a hostage.

It's highly likely to be like casting pearls before swine.