In the classroom of Ekoda High School after school, the afterglow of the setting sun dyed everything a warm orange. Aoko Nakamori sat alone by the window, gazing at the lights of thousands of homes gradually lighting up outside, lost in thought.
On TV and the internet, there were overwhelming reports of terrifying rumors about Kanjuro, the Suzuki Family's bounty, and Kaitou Kid's soul-stirring declaration of war. Kaito (she didn't know he was Kid) had also become unusually busy and silent lately, often disappearing. All of this was like a heavy dark cloud hanging over Tokyo and pressing down on Aoko's heart.
She shook her head vigorously, as if trying to shake off those terrible thoughts.
"Don't think about it! Aoko!" she encouraged herself in a small voice, patting her cheeks with both hands. "That kind of scary guy... that world is too far away from me! I don't want to care about it!"
She forced a high-spirited smile, trying to use her usual optimism to dispel the unease.
"I just need to go to school and come home like usual, have dinner with Dad, and wait for that idiot Kaito to occasionally come over and make me angry! Yes! That's it!"
She packed her schoolbag and stood up, deciding not to pay any more attention to that upsetting news. She wanted to focus her attention on her daily life, on those simple and real joys. She made up her mind to completely block the name 'Kanjuro' from her thoughts.
However, Aoko didn't know that some existences wouldn't disappear just because she ignored them. On the contrary, when she actively shut down her alert senses to the outside world, certain invisible erosions became even easier to slip in... In the dead of night, Aoko fell into a deep sleep in her room. The forced composure and deliberate avoidance during the day had consumed a lot of her mental energy, making her sleep deeper than usual.
A dream quietly descended.
At first, the dream was beautiful and familiar. She seemed to have returned to her childhood, chasing and playing with Kaito under the cherry blossom trees. The sky was azure, the sun was bright, and the air was filled with the sweet scent of flowers. Her father, Ginzo Nakamori, wearing ridiculous pajamas, smiled and waved at them from a distance.
But gradually, the dream began to feel... off.
The warm sunlight turned cold at some point, and the azure sky was covered with a gray filter. The blooming cherry trees began to wither, and the pink petals turned a bizarre dark purple as they fell. Kaito's figure became more and more blurred, finally disappearing into the thick fog. Her father's smile also froze and distorted, turning into an expression she had never seen before, filled with worry and fear.
The surrounding environment began to twist and deform. The walls of her room softened like melting wax, revealing strange, ornate Gothic patterns.
A cold, viscous feeling spread up from the soles of her feet, as if she had stepped into a bottomless swamp.
Just then, a figure slowly condensed in the depths of the twisted dream.
He wore well-tailored black clothing, his posture was tall and straight, and his face was so handsome it was almost unreal. His lips curled into a smile that she had only'seen' in blurred TV images and news descriptions—one that was charmingly evil and playful.
It was Kanjuro!
How could he appear in her dream?! Aoko felt a surge of intense panic in the dream. She wanted to scream and run, but she found herself unable to move, and no sound would come from her throat.
Kanjuro slowly walked towards her, his steps elegant, like he was patrolling his own territory. He ignored everything twisted and collapsing in the dream, his gaze accurately locked onto the terrified Aoko.
"Working very hard... to ignore me, little Aoko." Kanjuro's voice sounded directly in the depths of Aoko's mind, low and magnetic, yet carrying a hair-raising chill. "Unfortunately, the barrier of consciousness is as thin as a sheet of paper to me."
He extended his finger. The fingertip didn't touch Aoko, but she felt a cold thought drill into her brain like a venomous snake, flipping through the fears she tried to hide, her worries for Kaito, and her unease about her daily life being destroyed.
"Truly a simple and cute soul." Kanjuro's 'voice' carried a hint of appreciation, but that appreciation was more like evaluating an interesting toy. "Full of sunshine, yet so fragile... perfect for... making tea."
His words were nonsensical, yet they made Aoko feel extreme danger! This wasn't an ordinary nightmare! He could invade her thoughts! He could control her dreams!
"No... No! Get out! Get out of my dream!" Aoko screamed and struggled desperately in her heart.
Kanjuro laughed, and that smile looked exceptionally terrifying against the background of the distorted dream.
"Resistance is useless." His figure began to gradually blur, like ink merging into darkness, but that cold voice was etched into her like a brand:
"This is just the beginning... little Aoko. When you are awake, you can continue to pretend I don't exist. But when you fall asleep... your heart will be open to me. We... will meet often."
As the words fell, the entire dream world collapsed like a shattered mirror!
"Ah!"
Aoko Nakamori bolted upright in bed, her body drenched in cold sweat, her heart pounding wildly, and her breathing as ragged as if she had just finished a marathon. She looked around in terror: the familiar room, the familiar furniture, and outside was the real, peaceful night.
Was it a dream... just a nightmare?
However, that feeling of being watched, controlled, and chilled to the bone was so real! Kanjuro's face, that smile, those words—they were clearly etched in her mind, impossible to drive away.
She hugged her knees and buried her face in her arms, her body trembling uncontrollably. She thought that by making up her mind not to care, she could stay away from that demonic world. Little did she know that the demon's tentacles had already crossed the boundaries of reality, reaching directly into her most defenseless place—her heart within her dreams.
For the first time, Aoko Nakamori clearly realized that some darknesses don't disappear just because you don't pay attention to them. It might have already quietly slipped to your side, or even... into your heart. And her worry for Kaito, along with that forcibly suppressed fear, now surged forth like a bursting flood, accompanied by the lingering fear from the dream.
After experiencing a hair-raising dream invasion, Aoko Nakamori slept very fitfully for several nights. She kept the lights on, trying to tell herself with logic that it was just a nightmare caused by too much stress, but the fear deep in her subconscious kept entwining her like vines. Finally, under extreme exhaustion, she fell into a deep sleep again, and this time the dream was more concrete, more real, and more... cruel.
The beginning of the dream actually carried a bizarre warmth.
She seemed to be in a spacious, bright, and elegantly decorated Japanese Mansion, no longer her small home. A tall, breathtakingly handsome man was gently holding her as a young child, making her giggle. That man... was Kanjuro! In the dream, his smile was warm and genial, his eyes filled with (faked) paternal light, and he whispered to her: "Be good, call me Papa."
Young Aoko ignorantly and dependently put her arms around his neck and sweetly called out: "Papa!"
Next, a woman with a cool, capable temperament, yet equally beautiful and moving, walked over carrying fruit with a gentle smile on her face. That was... Lawyer Eri Kisaki?! In the dream, she was no longer the queen who dominated the courtroom, but a gentle wife and mother. She stroked young Aoko's head and said softly to Kanjuro, "Don't spoil her too much."
The scene suddenly shifted, becoming ambiguous and private.
It was still that Mansion, but in a dimly lit bedroom. Aoko (from a god-like perspective or a floating consciousness) saw Kanjuro and Eri Kisaki... they were intimately entangled. Eri Kisaki's face bore a complex expression—submission, a hint of sinking into it, and even a trace of... unspeakable pain? As for Kanjuro, he wore that same evil, all-controlling smile she had seen in her nightmare. The details of the dream were blurred yet conveyed a clear message, making Aoko feel flushed and inexplicably nauseated.
Then, the image jumped again, becoming hurried and oppressive.
The setting seemed to be a stormy night. Eri Kisaki was holding the infant Aoko, her face full of tears and determination. She stood at the back door of the Mansion, and standing before her was a much younger Ginzo Nakamori, whose face carried a sense of honesty and justice!
"Ginzo..." Eri Kisaki's voice choked in the dream. "This child... I can't leave her by that demon's side any longer! Please, take her away! Raise her as your own daughter! Never let her know her true parentage! Never let her get close to Kanjuro!!"
Inspector Nakamori's face was filled with shock and sympathy. He looked at Eri Kisaki, then at the unconscious infant in her arms. Finally, he nodded heavily and solemnly took the swaddled baby. "I understand, Lawyer Eri! I will protect her with my life!"
The moment the hand-off was complete, the dreamscape twisted violently! Kanjuro's figure appeared at the door like a ghost. The previous "warmth" on his face was gone, replaced by icy anger and mockery. He looked at Eri Kisaki and Inspector Nakamori as if they were ants struggling in his palm... "No—!!!"
Nakamori Aoko woke up from the dream with a scream, bolting upright in bed as cold sweat instantly soaked her pajamas. She gasped for air, her heart feeling like it would leap out of her throat, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.
Tears surged out, blurring her vision.
This dream... it was too real! Every detail, every line of dialogue, every expression was clearly branded into her mind! Kanjuro was her father? Eri Kisaki was her mother? Nakamori Ginzo was just an adoptive father? Those intimate... yet nauseating scenes... "Impossible... This is impossible!!" She clutched her hair tightly, trying to use pain to clear her head. "It's a nightmare! It must be that demon! He's here again! He's lying to me! He's tampering with my memories!!"
However, the seed of doubt had been planted deep by this incredibly vivid dream. That illusion of blood connection (even if forged) and the massive shock of "learning the truth" made her head spin. The world she had always known—the one with her loving father Nakamori Ginzo, the Kaito who always annoyed her but she cared for, and the ordinary, warm daily life—seemed to become shaky and fragile under the impact of this dream.
Her fear of Kanjuro was now mixed with an indescribable, chaotic emotion. If he really was her biological father... then all of this...?
"No! It's not! Dad is my dad!" Aoko shook her head violently, trying to dispel the terrifying thoughts, but the dream's images kept flashing back—especially Eri Kisaki's desperate and painful eyes as she handed the child (herself) to Nakamori Ginzo... She curled up on the bed, burying her face in her knees, and began to cry helplessly. Her logic told her this was Kanjuro's scheme, mental manipulation, but the massive emotional shock and the upheaval of her cognition left her feeling unprecedentedly fragile and lost.
Kanjuro hadn't touched a hair on her head in reality, yet through this meticulously woven dream, he easily shook the foundation of her world and cast a massive, dark shadow over her heart. He knew that to destroy a person, sometimes violence wasn't needed, only... rewriting their past. And Nakamori Aoko was falling into this silent and cruel war against her soul. The morning sun filtered through the gaps in the curtains, dappling Nakamori Aoko's face, but it couldn't dispel the gloom in her eyes or the coldness in her body. She had barely slept all night; as soon as she closed her eyes, she saw Kanjuro's sinisterly charming face, Eri Kisaki's desperate tears, and the heartbreaking (even if forged) scene of her being handed over to Nakamori Ginzo.
That dream was too real, so real that every detail gnawed at her sanity. She suddenly sat up from the bed, took a few deep breaths, and decided she had to go ask and find out the truth! She was going to ask her father, to ask clearly about her birth!
She rushed out of the room. Nakamori Ginzo was wearing an apron, busily preparing a simple breakfast in the kitchen—the fried eggs were a bit burnt, and some miso soup had spilled. Seeing his daughter come out, he forced a boisterous smile as usual: "Yo, Aoko, you're up early today! Go wash up, breakfast will be ready soon!"
But Aoko didn't complain about her father's clumsiness or go over to help with a smile as she usually did. She rushed straight to Nakamori Ginzo, tilted her head up, and stared intently into his eyes, her voice carrying a sharpness and tremor she didn't even notice herself:
"Dad! Tell me! Am I really your biological daughter?!"
Clang!
The spatula in Nakamori Ginzo's hand fell directly onto the floor, making a piercing sound. The smile on his face froze instantly, and a very obvious flash of panic and... the embarrassment of having a secret exposed flickered in his eyes. He subconsciously avoided Aoko's burning gaze, bending over to pick up the spatula, his voice sounding a bit weak:
"Silly... silly girl! What nonsense are you talking about! Of course you're my biological daughter! If not me, your dad, then who else could it be?!" He tried to cover his guilt by raising his voice, but in Aoko's eyes, this reaction was simply trying to hide the truth!
"You're lying!" Aoko's voice carried a sob as the dream's images surfaced again. "Look me in the eye and say it! Who exactly is my mother? Is it... is it Lawyer Eri Kisaki?! Am I... am I Kanjuro's...!"
"Shut up! Aoko!" Nakamori Ginzo suddenly interrupted her, his face turning pale instantly, even carrying a hint of fear. He grabbed Aoko's shoulders with enough force to make her feel pain. "You are not allowed to mention that name! You are not allowed to think about those messy things anymore! You are my, Nakamori Ginzo's, daughter! Do you hear me?!"
His reaction, rather than anger, was more like extreme panic and protection. But this crude denial and avoidance, to Aoko whose mind was already scrambled by the dream, was no different from a confirmation!
She forcefully shook off Nakamori Ginzo's hands, and her tears finally burst: "You've been lying to me all along! You're all lying to me!" She finished shouting through her tears, turned, and rushed back to her room, slamming the door shut without even eating breakfast... All day at Ekoda High School, Nakamori Aoko seemed like a different person. She lay on her desk, oblivious to the noise around her, staring blankly out the window as the dream and Nakamori Ginzo's panicked denial replayed in her mind.
Kaito Kuroba soon noticed her abnormality. He approached with his usual playful smile, trying to cheer her up or at least find out what was wrong.
"Hey, Aoko, what's up? You look like a frost-bitten eggplant this morning. Could it be because I yesterday again..."
Before he could finish, Aoko suddenly raised her head and glared at him fiercely, her eyes filled with inexplicable irritation and redirected anger.
"Go away! Kaito! I don't want to talk to you right now! You boys are all the same! So annoying!"
Kaito was stunned by the shout, his smile freezing. He keenly sensed that Aoko's mood was wrong, and it wasn't just a simple tantrum. He tried to ask again: "Hey, what's really wrong? Did you run into some..."
"I said go away! Don't you understand?!" Aoko interrupted him again, her voice sharper, even drawing the surprised looks of surrounding classmates. She took all her frustration, confusion, and fear regarding her unknown birth and vented it all on the person she was most familiar with and who seemed to be the only "safe" target for her venting.
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