Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Conan gritted his teeth to stop himself from yelling, "It's easy to scare people!"

"Anyone with a brain knows that's wrong, okay?"

Sano continued eating.

"Although my memory is rather poor, I can still remember things of this magnitude... Otherwise, at least when I saw the two of you, my first reaction should have been to ask who you are."

Conan and Shuichi Akai paused to process Sano's words... Did this guy mean that the two of them were on par with Rye in his heart?... Why did they suddenly feel so disheartened?

Conan, in particular, seemed hesitant to speak.

Dude, we're teammates, can you please not put yourself in the same category as the enemy?

...Of course, the allies and enemies here can only be described as temporary and overt.

Conan shook off unnecessary thoughts and picked up the subject again: "Did you know that the rye and the black cat that appeared last night both had glowing eyes?"

"What light is it emitting?"

"It's a red light, a deep, scarlet red, like it's not human."

Sano raised an eyebrow and glanced at Conan's feet again.

Are you sure you fell on your foot and not your head?

Conan's lips twitched... "You're the one who broke your head!"

Sano calmly ate his food... Who the hell told this kid to say he wasn't human?

Sano may be inhuman, but others cannot say that; it's a matter of dignity!

"The setting of glowing red eyes is real; I saw it too."

Shuichi Akai spoke up at the right moment: "And other people, such as Black Cat, Black Death, Black Mask, have even left behind material about their eyes glowing red in public. These can all be found in relevant reports."

"……so what?"

"Therefore, we have reason to suspect that these people are actually in cahoots."

Conan finally bared his fangs, staring intently at Sano: "Including your detective agency boss, Amuro Tooru's employee, Black Fox, he also has this kind of setup... and his subordinates are the same."

"Ah."

Sano nodded: "But these people have opposing stances, right?"

"Not always."

Conan said with a complicated expression, "Because Ran was saved by Rye last night."

"So you think he's a good person again?"

"Do not."

Conan let out another breath and said solemnly, "Perhaps he didn't do those bad things willingly, maybe he was thinking about the bigger picture... but legally speaking, it's still not allowed. At least, I absolutely, positively would not condone it. The Black Death is also an example, but comparatively speaking, the difference in degree between the two is quite significant..."

"Oh."

Sano, having finally finished his meal, lit a cigarette: "So what exactly are you trying to say?"

...Isn't it obvious now that things have been said this far?

Conan scratched his head frantically, ultimately unwilling to make the situation too ugly.

“Sano, I don’t know how deep your relationship is with Kurosawa and Kokushi, nor do I know if you are involved with the other three guys. But what I do know is that I trust you very much. Even if you are really a member of that organization, you are definitely the best one. Both morally and legally, you are on my side... So what I said just now was not to force you to do anything, but to remind you that if you really don’t know about this, then you must be more careful.”

"...If you trust people too much, you might suffer losses."

Shuichi Akai gave a summary for Conan.

Sano glanced at Conan... It seems like this message should be directed at him instead.

Forget it.

"First... I've said it many times already, and I don't want to say it again. Second, judging from what you've described... the clues are far too few."

Having nothing better to do, Sano wasn't in a hurry to end the conversation. He brushed the two off, saying, "Just because these few guys are jealous, you conclude they're in cahoots? There's no evidence, not even any witnesses. Are you kidding me?"

"Isn't that enough?"

Conan probably felt that Sano was defending his "friend"... which ultimately stemmed from excessive trust, so he quickly replied.

"Human eyes can't possibly emit light on their own. This must be some kind of technological product, similar to my glasses. It can automatically lock onto and magnify images, and even perform thermal imaging and map viewing... But what's different about mine is that this device can be shrunk down to the size of an eye, and when not in use, you can't see anything unusual at all. There's definitely only one like this in the world."

...You have quite the imagination, don't you?

Before Sano could speak, Conan continued, "Besides, didn't you notice that these guys' names... or nicknames are all very similar? Black Death, Black Wheat, Black Fox, Black Cat, Black Mask—they all start with the character 'black,' just like some kind of iconic flag. You can tell at a glance that they're definitely in the same group!"

...So it's finally been brought up again?

But what do you mean by "they're obviously in cahoots"? I haven't heard you mention that before.

Sano picked at his toes inside his slippers.

"But if they were really in cahoots, they would be careful to avoid suspicion, so why would they do this on purpose... Besides, you seem to have misunderstood something."

"what?"

Conan looked puzzled.

Sano continued, "Black Death, full name Black Reaper, this nickname was given to him by delinquents, he didn't choose it himself, especially since... this nickname was inherited, so it goes without saying."

"……inherit?"

Sano ignored Conan's words and continued.

"Black Mask is also a nickname given to him by the public after his many actions... As for Kurosawa's real name... I'm not sure about that."

"Rye, full name rye whiskey, according to what you've said, this is a code name that his organization gave him after he was promoted to a cadre position, just like the previous two, it wasn't decided by him himself..."

"As for Black Cat and Black Fox, I'm not so sure, there's too little information about them... But based on this, do you still stand by what you said earlier?"

Conan was stunned by what Sano said and immediately fell silent.

"...Then, what about the man in black? That can at least be considered supporting evidence, right?"

Shuichi Akai said this.

This puzzled Sano.

"What, in black?"

"...Ah, I haven't told you yet. Black Cat said last night that he's a member of the Black Organization...Of course, the Black Organization here is most likely not the same Black Organization, but a new one...Or it could be the old Black Organization, since there's too little information about it, and we don't know which of the two Black Organizations came first. Perhaps the other Black Organization is the new one."

Conan chattered on and on.

Sano was even more confused... What the hell is the Black Organization?

When did I say that word last night?

To briefly describe Sano's thoughts at this moment, it would be something like this:

What kind of black clothes?

What's the black-clad person?

What, in black?

...When his thoughts drifted back to last night, Sano did indeed casually make up a story with Spencer's men, but he wasn't talking about the Black Organization at all; it was a completely new entity that he had fabricated.

The Boys.

Yes, that's right, Sano chose to copy an organization name.

Otherwise, given Sano's naming standards... it really does lower the overall quality.

There were quite a few other options, but Sano particularly liked it.

It's the Phantom Troupe.

But in the end I still chose this one... because I felt it would match better.

...But the problem now is...

What the hell is the connection between the "Boys" and the "Black Organization"?

Besides the common character "black" at the beginning, what other connection is there between the two?

Could it be that guy misheard...? But how badly could he have misheard?

How can their talents differ so much?

Chapter 590, 593, Shuichi Akai: It's good to be alive.

Is that little Karami deaf, or does he not understand Japanese?

Could it be that you just came to Japan from America and that's why you don't quite understand?

Sano fell into deep thought, somewhat doubting himself.

Or is it that my memory is actually confused?

...When a person has too many identities, a lot of trouble often arises on its own.

Some trivial matters are not mentioned.

Confusion of memory, purpose, and stance are all very serious problems.

The one before that is slightly better.

Sometimes, even if you're really unsure, it's okay to play dumb and fool people... The real issues are the latter two, which are truly awkward.

Several pseudonyms.

It's okay if the chaotic faction leans towards neutrality, but once you encounter the absolute opposing sides...

That would be so embarrassing you'd want to pick your toes.

Regardless of which side gains the upper hand, it will lower the prestige of the other side.

In addition, having a fixed stance can also be considered a limitation.

Sano thought long and hard before finally coming up with a compromise.

That is.

Why bother dividing people into different classes? This is an era of equality for all!