"Well, hey there, little one, thanks for the sports drink," Taichi said, breaking the awkward silence. "It's starting to rain; you should probably get home with your grandpa."
How could he have known that the little girl he just met was a genius who earned her Ph.D. in her teens and had spent years as a scientist in an international criminal organization? She saw at a glance that he wasn't sweating, and naturally, she knew his excuse was a lie. For someone who had fled a criminal organization and lived in constant fear, the only things that could scare her more than the darkness she escaped were lies. Taichi was lucky he wasn't wearing black and didn't have the intimidating aura of someone from that organization; otherwise, she would have never let the professor stop the car and approach him.
Now calm, Ai Haibara regretted her impulsive behavior and took the easy way out Taichi offered.
"The big brother is right! It's already raining, Grandpa, so you don't need to get out of the car!" Ai tried to use a cutesy voice to cover up her previous outburst. From the few glances she took, she had a good grasp of Taichi's condition. His clothes were a bit dirty, but not torn. There were no wounds on his face, and no blood on the ground, so it wasn't a fight. The uncontrollable trembling in his limbs was a natural sign of physical exhaustion. Exhaustion was the truth, but running and losing track of time was a lie.
But most importantly, what was with those expensive-looking gauntlets on his hands? Could he be a thief who stole them from a medieval exhibition, only to collapse here from exhaustion? After all, he wasn't sweating, so he clearly wasn't in a rush when he left. His clothes were messy, but he didn't look like he had fallen from a high place.
Ugh! Why am I trying to deduce what this person is doing, just like that great detective?!
Stay away from him!
Don't get the professor involved in trouble!
That's what I should be doing!
Ai shook her head, trying to get rid of the chaotic thoughts.
"Hurry and get home with your grandpa. Tokyo at night isn't safe," Taichi's voice sounded somewhat ethereal. Ai took a serious look at him, then turned and ran toward the Beetle. If those three kids were here, they would have taken this man to the hospital or at least helped him call one. But she was Ai Haibara, a person with only one shred of warmth left after escaping the darkness. She would never bring trouble to the professor like that great detective always did!
"Ai-kun? That person..." From the driver's seat, the professor frowned as he looked at the young man in the alley.
"Professor, leave him alone," Ai said, closing the car door. "Even if he's not from that organization, he's definitely trouble. We need to leave now."
"But, Ai-kun, the young man is only wearing a single shirt... It's so cold and rainy... he'll catch a cold," the professor said, his heart aching a little.
"Professor!" Ai bit her lip, stopping the professor from continuing. "My existence is dangerous enough. I don't want you to be in any more danger!"
To Ai Haibara, who had lost her parents as a child and her sister "recently," the professor was probably the last family she had in the world. She saw him as her own grandfather. But because of this, she wanted him to stay far away from danger. She had also warned that great detective to involve the professor less in his investigations into the organization, but he was stubborn and always prioritized catching the organization over everyone else except for his childhood friend. Oh, and the three kids' safety was also on par with the organization's tail. She could understand the detective, but she always wished he would act more calmly when dealing with the organization.
When Ai, who had been lost in thought, came to her senses, she saw Professor Agasa pulling out his phone.
"Professor, you're not planning to talk to that great detective about that person, are you?" Ai's eyes sharpened.
"Huh? Ah, no," the professor replied, shaking his head. "I was going to call an ambulance for that young man."
"Oh, I see," Ai said, her lips twitching slightly as she awkwardly turned her head toward the car window.
"...Professor, you might not need to call an ambulance," Ai said, seeing in the side-view mirror that the man was staggering out of the alley, using the wall for support.
Screeech!
The professor saw him, too, and immediately slammed on the brakes.
"That's too dangerous!" the professor said anxiously. "Walking like that, he'll either crash into a wall or get hit by a car."
"It's raining now, and the ground will get wet soon. It'll be hard to stop even if a car wants to!"
Ai was on the verge of biting through her lip.
"That idiot!"
Just as she was about to open the car door and get him out of the rain, the professor's phone rang.
"It's Shinichi," the professor said, picking up immediately.
"Professor, are you watching the news?!" Conan Edogawa's voice came through the phone, sounding a bit panicked.
"No. I took Ai-kun out to eat and was about to go home."
"No, you should find another place to stay with Ai," Conan said. "I'm at the end of our street, and the whole street is blocked by an invisible wall... The other side is covered in a thick fog... The fog is now slowly dissipating."
"No, it's not just this street; a few nearby streets seem to be the same. I've already seen other people stuck outside at the end of the street."
"Huh? What are you talking about? An invisible wall? A thick fog?" The professor was completely confused.
"It's already on the news," Ai said, turning her phone over to show the news report on the screen. "It seems it first appeared in the Shibuya area, and when the police noticed it, they immediately set up a blockade and prohibited all people and vehicles from entering Shibuya."
"But the situation has changed," Conan explained. "I tried to contact Inspector Megure, but I couldn't reach him."
"Besides Inspector Megure?" Ai asked, leaning toward the phone.
"Officer Takagi and Officer Shiratori are also out of contact," Conan replied. "I only managed to get in touch with Officer Sato, who was on duty in another area."
"But she said that all the officers who went to Shibuya to set up the blockade are now out of contact."