give it all to miss machima

"Besides, you seem to have misunderstood something—I am Machima's best dog, but Machima is so fickle. Even though she has me, she still favors other pets. As a dog, of course, you can't blame your master for being fickle, so..."

The other person's smile gradually twisted, and their once beautiful face became sinister and terrifying.

"Tell me... what am I supposed to do with you?"

Haibara then realized that her situation seemed to have not improved, but had even worsened.

She tried her best to remain calm while simultaneously attempting to get the other person to weigh the pros and cons.

“Miss Tomie, you…you should think this through—the organization already knows I’m here, and Machima definitely has informants within the organization. If…if Machima discovers what you’ve done, then you…”

Tomie Kawakami's face instantly contorted into a ferocious expression. She grabbed Haibara by the neck and roared:

"You're threatening me!? Who do you think you are!? A nobody who's good for nothing except for Lady Machima's favor, and you dare threaten me!?"

"Ahem—I...I'm just stating the facts!"

Haibara struggled desperately, but her elementary school-level strength was no match for her opponent.

"The truth!? The truth is, ever since you came! Lady Machima doesn't dote on me like she used to! You bastard!"

Tomie Kawakami tossed Ai Haibara back into the room, then took a few deep breaths before slowly pulling out a lighter.

"Hmph... Shiho Miyano, if it were in the past, I really wouldn't dare to do anything to you, but thanks to you, Lady Machima has long since lost all her memories of you, hehehe... Now, you're only slightly more important to her than a stranger, so... what makes you think you can compete with me!? With your ridiculously childlike body now!?"

"—You!" Haibara gritted her teeth and stood up.

"So, for my sake, and for the sake of the dwarves of Machima... please continue to disappear from this world forever!"

Tomie Kawakami grinned maliciously and threw the lighter onto Pisk's corpse.

The corpse, already soaked in alcohol, quickly burst into flames. With another wave of her hand, numerous bottles on the surrounding liquor cabinet shattered instantly, spilling alcohol onto the ground and forming an impenetrable wall of fire.

"Don't worry, when people investigate afterward, they'll at most find a child's body! Hahahaha! Lady Machima will never know that it was yours! And me! When Lady Machima gets tired of your sister, I'll still be her best pet!"

Laughing loudly, Tomie Kawakami walked out of the house and locked the door behind her.

The raging flames quickly spread throughout the cellar, with bottles constantly exploding, adding fuel to the fire.

Haibara felt a wave of despair. In a few minutes, she would choke to death from the smoke, and her body would be burned into an unrecognizable pile of bones.

She looked around, unable to find a way to extinguish the fire or escape. The only other option, the fireplace chimney, was beyond her current physical capabilities to climb out of. Only…

and many more!

Haibara had a sudden inspiration—if this were a wine cellar…maybe!!!

Before the fire spread, she immediately began searching according to the different regions where the wines were produced. Before long, she found what she needed—Chinese baijiu.

Conan told her that he had once drunk this kind of sake while he had a cold and it made him recover briefly, but when he tried it again, it didn't work.

Haibara had learned about it during her time there, but since there were no experimental conditions available at the moment, she could only speculate that the wine might contain some element that could temporarily counteract the toxicity of APTX4869.

Now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to take a gamble!

She smashed the bottle open and, ignoring the harshness of the alcohol, gulped it down.

A few dozen seconds later, as a wave of heat washed over her, Haibara felt as if every cell in her body was being torn apart.

Immediately afterwards, her body began to grow in a way that defied the law of conservation of matter.

In this extreme pain, what Haibara didn't notice was that the flames, which should have spread long ago, continued to burn slowly, as if waiting for some kind of permission.

Only after she climbed into the chimney did the flames sweep across the entire room with tremendous force.

Several tens of minutes later, as the hotel's fire alarm was triggered, a girl wearing tattered clothes struggled to climb out of the chimney, fell onto the snow-covered rooftop, and breathed out a sigh of relief as she looked at the starry sky.

Chapter 176: The Curtain Falls for Now

He survived...

That—that wretched crazy woman!

Once she sees Machima, she'll definitely make her punish that bastard severely!

Haibara shakily got to her feet, tightened her tattered clothes, and staggered barefoot onto the cold snow towards the rooftop door—hopefully… it wasn't too late…

What she didn't realize was that, under the cover of the cat demon's illusion, Machima was actually standing not far from the rooftop, enjoying her disheveled appearance.

Compared to Shiho, who is quite well-endowed in her adult form, Ai Haibara is now small and cute, giving off an urge to eat her whole.

However, Machima held back—she didn't care about being punished; the key was that she wanted to have some fun afterwards, and she couldn't ruin the script because of a momentary impulse.

Now that the script has come to a close, all that's left is to wrap things up.

And the next time I see Shiho should be during... um... it should be the Full Moon arc, right?

Machima was somewhat uncertain.

She had almost forgotten the original plot, only vaguely remembering that the once prestigious organization had become increasingly incompetent.

When she transmigrated, Rum, who was initially expected to be another pillar of the Black Party, was finally proven to be a complete idiot, almost like an undercover agent, after a series of incredible actions.

As for Pisco this time, Machima didn't originally intend to take him down so easily—poor Black Label only had a few bottles of real liquor to begin with.

But who told him to be so reckless as to come over here?

So Machima didn't hold back—perfect for making use of waste, she could use it to help Shiho act. In a sense, it was a return to the original storyline.

What happens next...

Vermouth has already taken on her own form, and the only people who might still be somewhat of an interest to her are Rena Mizunashi and Curaçao from the CIA.

The remaining members with names and surnames are Gin, Vodka, Rum, and it seems there are also two snipers who are like the Crouching Dragon and the Young Phoenix.

There are only a few people in total. If we don't keep a low profile, we might accidentally kill a few of them, and the organization will really have very few bottles of real liquor left.

I have a feeling that if we keep playing like this, the already weak opening of the organization will be ruined by our own mistakes...

While she was thinking, Kawakami Tomie, who was standing next to her, couldn't help but feel a little jealous when she saw Makima watching Haibara Ai leave the whole time. She hugged Makima's arm and rubbed against her.

"Lord Machima, what's so great about this unromantic little girl? Is she worth all your effort? If you ask me, why not just take her under your control and make her yours too..."

"—Smack—"

Distracted from her thoughts, Machima impatiently slapped Tomie across the face and then stared at her coldly.

“In the script I gave you, I don’t think you were supposed to choke Shiho or throw her so hard, right? You’ve brought in some personal grudges, Tomie… Cats can be naughty and willful, but I don’t like disobedient dogs.”

The latter fell to the ground, trembling as he looked at Machima.

"Lady Machima, you...you actually hit me for that ungrateful brat!?"

"...?"

Just as Machima was starting to have doubts, and Tomie's reckless words were making her start to doubt herself, Tomie suddenly pounced on her, hugged her leg, and trembled with excitement:

"This is... how exciting it makes me! Please! Tomie has made a mistake! Please continue to punish me! Hurt me! You can hit me however you want! Lady Machima!"

"..."

Machima, who was completely bewildered, covered her head and sighed.

For the immortal Tomie, no matter how she is punished, she will eventually see it as a reward, so the best punishment is... to leave her alone!

Machima pointed at the other person:

"As punishment, tonight you are only allowed to watch from the sidelines."

"—Aaaaaah!" Tomie cried out in anguish, "No, no, Machima-sama!"

On the other side, Haibara could feel her body gradually getting hot again. With her last bit of willpower, she returned to the hotel room that the professor had rented and collapsed onto the bed. A few dozen seconds later, she felt a sharp pain in her body once again.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

A dozen minutes later.

When Conan and Dr. Agasa received her call after she had recovered and rushed back, Ai Haibara had already reverted to her child form.

"Are you alright!? Haibara!?"

Haibara was naturally very unhappy about Conan's disappearance halfway through the journey and questioned him about where he had gone.

It turned out that shortly after she went inside, a hotel staff member passing by spotted her, mistook her for a lost child, and forcibly took her to the front desk despite her resistance.

After finally reuniting with the doctor, the two tried to find her, only to discover that the swimming pool was deserted and she had vanished without a trace. No matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find her.

After hearing this, Haibara could only sigh helplessly, thinking to herself that it had truly been a day full of misfortunes.

Afterwards, the professor went to buy her new clothes—after all, her old ones were all torn, and she couldn't keep hiding under the covers forever. Conan, of course, asked her what had happened afterward.

"...So, after you went in, did you find your sister and Aphrodite? What happened after that? Was it related to the fire that just happened at the hotel?"

"Things...are complicated..."

Haibara's eyes dimmed, and she pulled the blanket tighter around herself, shrinking herself even further into the covers.

After omitting her relationship with Machima and the story of Machima and her sister, she tells Conan about how she was captured by Pisco, how Pisco was then instantly killed by Tomie Kawakami, and how the latter wanted to burn her alive.

After hearing Kawakami Tomie's motive for the crime, the latter was speechless.

With this, even if he was stupid, he could vaguely guess why Haibara had only briefly mentioned what happened at the swimming pool—she must have stumbled upon something... that was best left unsaid.

"By the way! Machima, is she still at the hotel?" Haibara asked.

"They should be gone by now. I saw them leave after the banquet. I was going to try to track them down, but you went missing then, so..."

Haibara sighed:

"The clue... has been lost again..."

He was so close to Machima this time—if it weren't for Pisco bumping into him, if it weren't for Machima's despicable henchman…

"Oh right! Tomie Kawakami..."

"Ah, I never imagined that the big star would actually be Aphrodite's lover... uh..."

Seeing Ai Haibara's face turn dark instantly, Conan quickly changed his tune:

"I mean—my subordinate! In this way, we haven't completely lost our trail, although if she finds out you're still alive, the outcome might not be much better than being discovered by the organization... Wait!"

Conan the Analyst suddenly realized something.

“No, things are a bit bad—she's more dangerous to you than the organization is right now! The organization just wants to capture you, use you, or use you to blackmail Aphrodite, but she… she wants you dead… and…”

Conan's gaze darkened.

“If Kawakami Tomie had investigated the aftermath of that fire, she would have found only Pisco’s remains at the scene—she would know you escaped, and she… would never want Aphrodite to know you’re still alive, much less allow you to tell her this while you’re still alive… so…”

"She'll very likely try to silence them first..."

Ai Haibara also realized the seriousness of the situation.

"If we follow the hotel check-in records to find out who brought a child to the hotel tonight, or even attended a banquet... we might end up tracing back to Professor Agasa..."

Haibara suddenly felt a wave of suffocation – if she died, so be it, but… what if it affected Conan and Dr. Agasa…

Fortunately, Conan remained relatively calm. He took out his voice changer and called Inspector Megure, who was already at the scene of the hotel fire because a charred body had been found. For some reason, it seemed that no matter what case happened in Tokyo, it was always the First Investigation Division that came to the rescue.

"Hey? Kudo, what brings you here today? I happen to have a tricky case on my hands, are you interested?"

"I'm sorry, Inspector Megure, I'm currently investigating a case overseas, but... the group I'm investigating might be related to the case you're currently working on..."

Because of his connection to the "savior of the Japanese police," Conan cleverly used his connections—he asked Inspector Megure to have the police seize the hotel's check-in records for the day—once the files were in the police's possession, it wouldn't be so easy for them to investigate.

In this way, although the news that "Shiho Miyano" was not dead could not be concealed, at least it would prevent the other party from continuing to investigate.

Conan breathed a sigh of relief after finishing all this—luckily, he, Shinichi Kudo, had some influence with the police, and Inspector Megure trusted his younger brother Kudo very much, so he wouldn't refuse such a small favor.

Gray was worried—after all, Makima had once controlled the Special Investigations Division, a violent organization not under the same system as the Japanese police, but if Kawakami Tomie could mobilize its power…

Conan thought for a moment and then carefully questioned Ai Haibara about all the details regarding Tomie Kawakami.

After some analysis, he concluded that the other party might be favored, but not to this extent.

"Judging from the information revealed in her words, Kawakami Tomie didn't gain much power with Aphrodite. She was merely treated as a decorative figure... well... or a high-level assassin. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so jealous of you..."

Conan analyzed.

"Moreover, to be honest, I've heard of this big star. She can't even be a good star, so Aphrodite probably wouldn't give her any important position. That's why she just sent her to be a star. Therefore... I think she can't even mobilize anyone. At most, she can only find a way to deal with you herself—and she would never dare to let Aphrodite find out."

"That makes sense..."

Ai Haibara nodded—she also felt that although Makima was fickle, she wouldn't be so nepotistic. Clearly, only someone as outstanding and loyal as Tamiya Ryoko could be given power by Makima.

"In that case, we are basically safe. The rest... is to find a way to investigate Kawakami Tomie."

After relaxing, Conan revealed his usual confident smile.