With help from the Detective Boys, the Metropolitan Police detectives who had been on duty quickly arrived at Beika Library after receiving Onizawa's call.
They recovered Tamada's body and arrested the five members of the Nisen-kai.
As for Tsugawa, the mastermind behind everything, there was no escaping prison. His legitimate bank accounts would also be frozen and confiscated. After all, the amount of heroin he had been trafficking totaled two kilograms.
Meanwhile, after reviewing traffic camera footage and the surveillance footage from outside a nearby convenience store, Hayasaka successfully led her team in rescuing Toshihiko Nakata, who had been kidnapped by the Silver Fox counterfeit ring.
It was truly a night of double victories.
...
Having handed the paperwork over to his subordinates, Ritsu finally returned home just before midnight.
The first thing he saw was Akemi standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows, quietly playing with Gingerbread.
Hearing him enter, she turned around.
"I'm back. Why aren't you asleep yet?" he asked.
"I was waiting for you."
Smiling, Akemi headed into the kitchen. "You haven't had dinner yet, have you? Go wash your hands. I'll heat everything up in the microwave."
"...Alright. Thanks."
Ritsu hadn't expected her to prepare his portion as well.
A warm feeling spread through his chest. He could finally understand why Shiho adored her older sister so much.
Akemi really was like an angel.
After washing his hands, Ritsu sat down at the table, took out his phone, and turned on the speaker.
A familiar voice immediately filled the room. The moment he heard what was playing, he couldn't help chuckling.
'Looks like being devious really is contagious.'
Akemi blinked in surprise.
"Why do you have Shiho's voice on your phone?"
While enjoying his very late dinner, Ritsu explained,
"I noticed your sister wanted to tease the little lab rat she's been observing, so I planted a listening device on Conan."
The recording continued playing.
"What are you talking about? I've never taken any such drug."
Then came Haibara's calm reply.
"Oh? There's no way I'd mistake that drug's name. The Organization ordered me to develop it."
Swallowing a bite of black pepper beef, Ritsu sighed regretfully.
"What a shame."
"A shame?"
"All we get is the audio. Wouldn't it be so much better with video? It's like the difference between a radio drama and a TV series. Having to imagine the visuals yourself is kind of exhausting."
Akemi lowered her head with a smile, her shoulders trembling as she tried to suppress her laughter.
She had never expected Ritsu to have such a mischievous streak.
Although...
Watching the whole thing live really would have been entertaining.
The recording continued.
...
"The Organization? Developing drugs? N-No way... What could a little kid like you possibly do?"
Conan's voice was noticeably trembling.
Deep down, he'd already begun to suspect that Haibara had also taken the mysterious drug that had shrunk his body.
But he desperately wanted to believe the best-case scenario.
'If she's really one of them... Doesn't that mean I've already been exposed to the Organization? Wouldn't everyone around me be in danger?'
Haibara's calm voice answered.
"Just like you, I took that drug. Through a rare side effect of the cells' self-destruction program, every cell outside the nervous system, your bones, muscles, even your heart, regresses to early childhood... It's quite a mysterious poison."
...
Completely absorbed in the drama, Ritsu picked up a piece of braised potato and commented objectively,
"Your sister's delivery is really good. And you didn't see her crying act earlier. If I hadn't known she was Shiho, I might've believed it myself."
Akemi's smile gradually faded into something gentler. She let out a quiet sigh.
"In an organization like that... acting is probably a basic survival skill. Shiho always pretended to be far more mature than someone her age so no one would notice how afraid she really was."
"Even that cold, distant expression she always wears... it's just another way of hiding her true feelings."
Born into the Organization from the very beginning... Yet still clinging to one small hope.
That one day, she wanted to leave together with her sister. To live an ordinary life.
For the Miyano sisters, the greatest luxury wasn't wealth or fame. It was normalcy. They had never dreamed of riches.
All they had ever wanted... was to live peacefully as ordinary people.
Nothing more.
Hearing Akemi's words, the smile on Ritsu's face turned bitter.
Didn't he also wish he could go back? If he could return to the past, he would treasure every single day he had spent at the Police Academy.
But reality wasn't a story.
There were no supernatural powers to grant second chances.
The recording continued.
...
"Haibara... don't tell me you're...!"
"I'm not Haibara. Sherry. That's my codename in the Organization. Surprised, Kudo Shinichi?"
"Then... does that mean you're one of those people in black?"
"This isn't the time for you to be shocked, detective. I told you before, didn't I? I live at 2-22 Beika Town."
"That's right. Right next door to your old house. So now you know where I—"
...
The recording stopped abruptly.
Akemi blinked.
"Did your phone run out of battery?"
"No."
Ritsu reached into his pocket and took out several round sticker transmitters, each labeled with a different number.
"The time limit expired. I wasn't paying attention earlier. The one I stuck on Conan only lasts for an hour. Once that's up, it automatically stops working."
"What a shame."
Akemi sighed with lingering disappointment.
"It stopped right before the best part."
Ritsu shrugged.
"I know. My dinner companion disappeared halfway through."
Then something occurred to him.
"Oh, right. You didn't talk to your sister at school?"
Akemi shook her head.
"She probably thinks I'm still under the Organization's surveillance, so she's afraid to approach me."
"So when are you planning to tell her the truth?"
He grinned.
"Or are you planning to tease your own little sister for a while longer?"
"I'll tell her when the time is right."
She smiled before asking in return, "What about you? When are you planning to tell Kudo-kun who you really are?"
Ritsu thought quietly for a while before giving his answer.
"Kudo is still just a seventeen-year-old high school student. He's incredibly smart. But when it comes to handling certain situations... he's still too idealistic.
So I won't tell him my real identity. I'll only interact with him as Onizawa. Of course, I'll make sure he's safe."
He paused before adding,
"He and your sister are in the same boat now. If either one of them dies... the other will inevitably be exposed. And that would create enormous problems."
Akemi nodded in agreement.
Shinichi was undoubtedly a brave and righteous young man. But he was still young. He hadn't experienced enough.
At least for now, he wasn't ready to become a true partner.
"What about your classmates from the Police Academy?"
Akemi asked gently.
"Aren't you going to tell them you're still alive?"
Ever since learning Ritsu's true identity, she'd asked him a great deal about his past.
She had also discovered that Rei, the boy she'd met as a child who was always covered in bruises from getting into fights, was now working undercover inside the Organization.
Even the Bourbon whiskey that Shiho had once mentioned, the man who had taken away the little black cat was Rei himself.
The moment she asked that question, Ritsu fell silent.
He could handle everyone else's problems with ease. His own were another matter entirely. If he revealed who he was now... he'd be dragging all of them into the Organization's world.
If anything went wrong, everything would be over.
He didn't know whether he should tell them, nor did he know, whether they'd resent him after learning the truth.
"...After I returned to Tokyo... I saw them visiting my grave."
He lowered his head.
"After seeing that... I just couldn't bring myself to say anything."
Silence filled the room.
After a long while, he finally spoke again.
"...So ...let's just let nature take its course."
Part of him hoped he could keep the truth buried forever. He didn't want them to know what he'd done, or what he'd sacrificed, for the sake of his mission.
Nor did he want the Public Security Bureau, the people who had wanted to erase his existence, to discover that he was still alive.
The fewer people who knew, the better his chances of surviving.
Perhaps... That was his own form of selfishness.
Because he was afraid.
Afraid... of having to face death once again.
----
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