A Fleeting Glimpse

"Senior Fujino, you can defuse bombs too?"

Ran stared intently at Fujino, looking utterly incredulous.

"Ahem."

Fujino cleared his throat upon hearing that.

After pondering for a moment, he scratched the back of his head and explained, "Well, I am a full-time detective, after all. As a full-time detective, knowing how to defuse bombs is perfectly normal, isn't it?"

After saying that, he hurriedly changed the subject and asked Ran, "But putting that aside, Ran, why are you going to Kyoto too?"

"It's for a wedding."

She chuckled and explained, "One of Dad's friends is getting married today, and it's being held in Kyoto... Plus, I've never been to Kyoto before, so I wanted to come along and have a look."

Ran did not continue dwelling on Fujino's bomb-defusing skills.

In her view, it was perfectly reasonable for detectives to possess all sorts of strange skills.

Don't ask how she knew. Shinichi was exactly like that.

Because of that damned bomb on the Shinkansen, Fujino was still taken away by the Kyoto police for questioning.

However, after learning that he was a High School Detective, the police at Kyoto Headquarters did not make things difficult for him.

As they put it, "High school students can't defuse bombs... What, you say you're a High School Detective? Then it's fine."

Ordinary high school students could not, but High School Detectives could.

Perfectly reasonable. Perfectly Detective Conan logic!

As for Conan and Ran... since neither of them had much to do with the bombing, they headed straight to the wedding of Mori Kogoro's acquaintance after getting off the train...

There was also the woman carrying the bomb.

After Fujino threw her over his shoulder, she never regained consciousness before the police arrived. She was carried away on a stretcher and sent directly to the hospital, where she would be questioned after waking up.

As the sun set, outside Kyoto Police Headquarters.

Fujino stood on the street, surveying the distinctly Japanese surroundings as he murmured, "So this is Kyoto?"

Yet in a daze, he found the scenery around him somewhat familiar.

It was familiar, yet unfamiliar.

As though he had been here before.

But no matter how hard he tried to recall it, he could not remember even a trace of the original owner's memories of ever visiting Kyoto.

Was it déjà vu?

Fujino could not help thinking so.

"Vroom!"

Just then, the roar of an engine interrupted his thoughts.

He looked up and saw a pristine white Rolls-Royce speed past him.

Fujino recognized the model of the car at a glance.

It was an old white Rolls-Royce, the kind with a little silver figurine on the hood...

That car was worth at least a small building, perhaps even more.

"Are people in Kyoto all this rich?"

As he spoke, Fujino gave a deadpan stare.

Meanwhile, inside the Rolls-Royce that had just sped past.

Within the luxuriously furnished car, the girl in the back seat leaned toward the window and gazed outside, looking particularly absorbed.

The girl had delicate features and wore a gray-and-white school uniform. Her shoulder-length chestnut curls fell naturally around her, and two red stud earrings adorned her earlobes.

Only after the familiar figure outside the window had vanished completely did she sit back down.

At that moment, the butler suddenly raised his head and asked the girl in the back seat, "Young Miss, did you see someone you knew just now?"

"No. He merely seemed a little familiar."

"Could he have been an old acquaintance you have not seen for many years?"

"An old acquaintance?"

Hearing the butler's guess, the girl fell silent for a moment. A trace of disappointment entered her voice as she said, "Maybe I just mistook him for someone else."

As she spoke, she looked toward the setting sun beyond the window and gave a distracted chuckle. "The one I love is in Tokyo..."

Night fell, in a forest on the outskirts of Kyoto.

Fujino wore a Batman Mask and held Okamoto's Peach Wood Sword as he followed the system's instructions deeper into the desolate forest.

At that moment, a red dot flickered not far away within his field of vision.

That red dot marked the location of Numabuchi Kiichiro, the target of this System Task's bounty.

Continuing to follow the system's red-dot guidance, Fujino pushed aside the bushes in front of him. What came into view was a clearing in the forest.

At the center of the clearing stood a yellow tent, with a faint glow seeping through its fabric.

If the system's guidance was correct, this should have been Numabuchi Kiichiro's temporary dwelling.

"Who's there?!"

The figure inside the tent seemed to have detected some movement in the woods.

After letting out a feral roar, he rose to his feet, sliced open the tent fabric with a sharp blade, and leaped out.

"Your senses are pretty sharp..."

Fujino parted the grass and revealed himself. Deliberately lowering his voice, he asked Numabuchi Kiichiro in the distance, "Are you Numabuchi Kiichiro?"

Numabuchi Kiichiro stared silently at the figure in the distance, but every muscle in his body tensed against his will.

Using the faint moonlight, he made out the man's details.

He was a man of average build, dressed in a black suit, with a black mask on his face and a katana in his hand.

Faintly, a sharp, chilling gleam seemed to shine from the eyes behind that mask.

Damn it, it had to be them!

They had to be here for him!

In his panic, Numabuchi Kiichiro clenched the dagger in his hand. His thin body suddenly erupted with boundless strength.

He stepped forward and lunged at Fujino with the speed of a cheetah, shouting at the same time, "You bastard dogs, go to hell!"

Detective Enhancement activated for host; countdown 0-1-59

Strength Boost activated for host; countdown 0-0-59

Perception Enhancement activated for host; countdown 0-0-59

The system's voice rang out.

Facing Numabuchi Kiichiro's fierce assault, Fujino remained calm. He merely slowly raised the Wooden Sword in his hand...

When less than two meters remained between them, Fujino moved.

His body swayed slightly as he angled the Wooden Sword toward the right side of his waist. With force in his right hand, he swung directly at the dagger rushing toward him in Numabuchi Kiichiro's grip.

Clang!

A crisp metallic sound rang out.

The dagger and Wooden Sword collided, producing the sound of metal fatigue.

The enormous force rebounded through Numabuchi Kiichiro's hands, and the searing pain made both hands gripping the dagger go numb.

Yet he did not let go of the dagger.

Instead, he struggled to wrench it free from the deadlock with the Wooden Sword.

Like a beast, he rolled backward several times before climbing back up, glaring fiercely at Fujino.

An ordinary person would have surely thrown away the dagger after taking Fujino's strike just now.

But Numabuchi Kiichiro did not.

Because he knew that if he lost his dagger, death would be waiting for him!