Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

I lost everything.

regret.

In short, I regret it so much, I'm practically kicking myself.

This is truly a gambler's mentality; trying to gain a little something, they lost everything.

...Amuro Tooru considered himself insightful and able to see things clearly.

But who can blame us when this matter involves Shuichi Akai?

How could anyone not get dizzy and confused?

However, after clutching his lower back in pain for a few seconds, Amuro Tooru realized something was wrong.

The pain is gradually lessening and seems to be limited to the skin and flesh.

Amuro Tooru, who was leaning against the wall with one hand and clutching his waist with the other, raised his hand and looked at it. He didn't seem to feel any stickiness of blood on his hand.

Yes, it's spotless.

Beneath the mask, Amuro Tooru's forehead was covered in cold sweat as he gritted his teeth and looked at the other side.

Sano, arms crossed, leaned lazily against the other side of the wall, watching Amuro Tooru.

Although his face is not clearly visible, judging from the situation and Sano's posture...

Amuro Tooru could still vaguely see a gloating and mocking smile in the shadows beneath the hat brim... What a lunatic!

"What the hell did you use to stab me just now?"

Amuro Tooru finally spoke, no longer hiding his true voice.

Sano raised one hand, folded his little finger and ring finger together, and then, while making a gun-like shape with the remaining three fingers, suddenly thrust them forward, mimicking a gunshot with his mouth. "Bang!" Just like before.

...Damn it, I actually got fooled by such a little trick.

That's really embarrassing.

"It's been so long since we last met. I was just joking. Don't take it personally."

Sano put away his "pistol" and grinned at Amuro Tooru.

...I didn't find anything funny about it.

Amuro Tooru took a deep breath. It seems he'll have to keep some heart medication on him from now on.

"So, how did you know it was mine?"

Toru Amuro asked.

"secret."

Sano wagged his finger: "You do such fun things and don't tell me, so naturally I can't tell you my little secrets either, right?"

Amuro Tooru secretly pursed his lips, but did not press the matter further.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Shuichi Akai was peering out the window of a restaurant on the edge of the department store.

"found it."

Shuichi Akai's gaze was fixed on Chianti, who was holding a gun in the building across the street.

"Ah, we found it."

A hard object pressed against Shuichi Akai's lower back.

"..."

Shuichi Akai's expression changed slightly as he turned around, and Kurosawa's face came into view.

After relaxing a little, Shuichi Akai remained silent for a few more seconds.

"Excuse me, do we know each other?"

Shuichi Akai still wanted to keep as few people as possible informed of his plan to fake his death.

Therefore, they first tested the waters.

Sano then pushed his finger forward, forcing Shuichi Akai to look away.

"We shouldn't be considered acquaintances... otherwise, I wouldn't have come all this way to find you. Let's stop wasting our breath and get down to business. Who are you? What's your code name? Are you from the intelligence team or the operations team?"

Upon hearing Sano's question, Shuichi Akai was taken aback for a moment, then found himself both amused and exasperated.

So, he came here for that scarred Akai who's pretending to be him?

But she actually believed that was herself, and ended up following that guy's true self.

Were I mistaken for a bad person?

...Of course, it's also possible that it has nothing to do with the scarred Akai, but rather that there was some other misunderstanding.

Anyway, as long as the misunderstanding is cleared up, that's fine.

The problem is, how do we resolve this?

Should we tell the truth?

Shuichi Akai's faked death plan was something he wouldn't even reveal to his own teammates, let alone to someone who was probably not on the opposing side.

But they were definitely not particularly friendly outsiders either.

While Shuichi Akai hesitated, Sano was already getting impatient.

"Forget it, it's better to eliminate the unstable factors directly. Bye."

"Varied……"

Shuichi Akai was momentarily stunned—damn it, at least give him a few seconds to think it over!

Is it really necessary to be in such a hurry?!

Before Shuichi Akai could even speak, Sano's finger had already pulled back and jabbed out.

And so, another person appeared in the department store clutching their back and leaning against the wall.

A second time.

Yes, both undercover agents should be properly positioned.

If one person has something, the other person must also have it; it's all about equality!

Sano, the master of balance, thought to himself.

"..."

After catching his breath, Shuichi Akai gave a forced smile.

"joke?"

Sano smiled and nodded: "Just kidding."

Shuichi Akai rubbed his kidneys: "I'm a little confused about your thinking. If you're trying to trick me, you're being too hasty and haven't gotten anything out of it. If you're not trying to trick me, then there's no need to go through all this trouble... So what's the point?"

"It's just a joke, what else could it be for? Just for fun."

Sano lit a cigarette.

If Shuichi Akai knew that Tooru Amuro, who was impersonating him, had also been played the exact same joke, I wonder what he would think?

"When did you find out about me? Did that child tell you?"

Shuichi Akai then asked, "Compared to asking how I know without any direction, directly stating a goal might be more likely to get an answer."

Whether it's a rebuttal or not, the principle remains the same.

Sano, however, avoided the topic, saying, "Who knows? You can just go ask them."

Unfazed by the lack of an answer, Shuichi Akai didn't feel embarrassed or continue to pester the question. Instead, he asked, "Have you seen that imposter?"

"uh-huh."

Sano nodded.

Who do you think he is?

"Don't you know who you are that would do something like this?"

Sano asked a question that puzzled Shuichi Akai.

This guy seemed very familiar with my past experiences and relationships within the organization... It felt strangely odd.

After letting out a sigh of relief, Shuichi Akai changed the subject.

What's your opinion on this case?

Sano turned around, ordered an iced coffee, and casually said, "I'll just sit and watch."

Akai Shuichi: "..."

Can't this guy even communicate properly?

After a moment of silence, Shuichi Akai decided to deal with the immediate problem first: "Let's go take a look first. After all, an unexpected disaster like a bomb is quite troublesome."

Sano neither agreed nor disagreed, and followed.

But when the two arrived at their destination, they discovered that the problem had already been solved.

It is undoubtedly Conan's deduction that led to Kogoro Mouri being drugged.

The only problem is that before being drugged by Conan, Kogoro Mouri received a text message, which also contained the reasoning behind the case.

Chapter 501, Room 504: Homeroom Teacher Gin

This reasoning is even 80-90% similar to Conan's reasoning.

This greatly shocked Conan and the others.

Ran Mouri quickly dialed the number that sent the text message, but after grabbing the person in the crowd whose phone was ringing, she discovered that the sender was not him.

According to the passerby, he accidentally dropped his phone.

It was later found by a man in a hat, who then returned it.

Ran Mouri said thoughtfully, "So, the person who actually made this deduction and sent it to Dad was the man in the hat who found your phone?"