Fleeting Glance

"Senior Fujino, you know how to defuse bombs?"

Ran stared at Fujino, looking disbelieving.

"Ahem."

Fujino coughed lightly at her words.

After a moment of thought, he scratched the back of his head and explained, "Well, after all, I am a Full-time Detective. As a Full-time Detective, knowing how to defuse bombs should be perfectly normal, right?"

With that, he quickly changed the subject and asked Ran, "Speaking of which, Ran, why are you guys going to Kyoto too?"

"It's for a wedding,"

She chuckled and explained, "My dad's friend is getting married today, and the ceremony is in Kyoto... And I've never been to Kyoto before, so I thought I'd tag along and see it."

Ran didn't dwell on the fact that Fujino knew how to defuse bombs.

As far as she was concerned, it was perfectly reasonable for detectives to have all sorts of strange skills.

Don't ask her how she knew; it was because Shinichi was just like that.

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

However, after learning of his identity as a high school detective, the Kyoto police didn't make things difficult for him.

In their words: "High school students can't defuse bombs... What, you say you're a high school detective? Never mind then."

High school students can't, but high school detectives can.

Perfectly reasonable, perfectly Conan-esque!

As for Conan and Ran... as they had nothing to do with the bombing incident, after getting off the train, they headed straight to the wedding of an acquaintance with Mori Kogoro...

And then there was the woman who carried the bomb.

After Fujino performed a shoulder throw on the woman, she remained unconscious until the police arrived. She was carried away by the police on a stretcher and sent to the hospital, and would only be investigated after she woke up.

The sun began to set, and Fujino stood at the entrance of the Kyoto Police Headquarters.

He looked around at the streets, which were full of Japanese style, and murmured, "So this is Kyoto?"

However, in a daze, he felt that the scenery around him was somewhat familiar.

Familiar yet strange, so to speak.

It was as if he had been here before.

But no matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn't remember any memories of the original owner having been to Kyoto.

Could it be déjà vu?

Fujino couldn't help but think so.

"Vroom!"

At that moment, the roar of an engine interrupted his thoughts.

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

Fujino immediately recognized the model of the car speeding past.

It was an older model Rolls-Royce, white, with the little silver spirit of ecstasy on the hood...

That car alone was worth a small building, maybe even more.

"Are people in Kyoto this rich?"

As he said that, Fujino's eyes became vacant.

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

Inside the luxurious interior, the girl sitting in the back leaned out the car window, looking out with a faraway expression.

The girl was beautiful, dressed in a gray and white school uniform, with shoulder-length curly brown hair falling naturally. She wore two red earrings.

Only after the familiar figure outside the car window had completely disappeared did she sit back down in her seat.

At that moment, the butler suddenly looked up and asked the girl in the back seat, "Young lady, did you just see someone you knew?"

"No, it just felt a bit familiar."

"Could it be an old acquaintance you haven't seen in many years?"

"An old acquaintance?"

Hearing the butler's guess, the girl pondered for a moment, a hint of disappointment in her voice, "Perhaps I just mistook someone."

As she spoke, her gaze drifted to the sunset outside the car window, and she let out a distracted chuckle, "My beloved is in Tokyo..."

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

Fujino wore a Batman mask and held the Okamoto Peach Wood Sword, walking into the desolate forest according to the system's instructions.

In his vision at that moment, a red dot was flashing not far away.

That red dot marked the location of this mission's bounty target: "Numabuchi Kiichiro."

Continuing to follow the system's red dot, Fujino pushed aside the bushes in front of him. What greeted his eyes was an open clearing in the forest.

In the center of the clearing, a yellow tent had been set up, and a faint glow was visible through the fabric.

If the system's guidance was correct, this should be Numabuchi Kiichiro's temporary residence.

"Who's there!"

At this moment, the figure inside the tent seemed to have sensed some movement in the woods.

With a roar, he stood up, slashed open the tent fabric with a sharp blade, and leaped out.

"Your senses are quite sharp..."

Fujino pushed aside the grass, revealing himself. He deliberately lowered his voice as he addressed Numabuchi Kiichiro, who was not far away: "Are you Numabuchi Kiichiro?"

Staring at the figure not far away, Numabuchi Kiichiro remained silent, but the muscles all over his body tensed uncontrollably.

In the faint moonlight, he could make out the details of the person.

It was an ordinary-looking man, dressed in a black suit, wearing a black mask, and carrying a samurai sword.

Vaguely, a sharp, cold glint emanated from the eyes behind the mask.

Damn it, it must be them!

It must be them who have come!

In a panic, Numabuchi Kiichiro tightly gripped the dagger in his hand, and his thin body suddenly erupted with boundless strength.

He lunged at Fujino like a leopard, shouting, "All of you mongrels die!"

[Detective Enhancement activated for host; Countdown 0-1-59]

[Strength Boost activated for host; Countdown 0-0-59]

[Perception Boost activated for host; Countdown 0-0-59]

The system's voice sounded.

Facing Numabuchi Kiichiro's fierce assault, Fujino remained calm. He slowly raised the wooden sword in his hand...

When he was less than two meters away from Numabuchi Kiichiro, Fujino moved.

His body swayed slightly, and the wooden sword in his hand tilted towards his right hip. With a powerful thrust of his right hand, he swung directly at the dagger Numabuchi Kiichiro was charging with.

"Clang!"

A crisp metallic sound rang out.

The dagger and the wooden sword collided, emitting a sound of metal fatigue.

Immense force fed back into Numabuchi Kiichiro's hand, and the intense pain made his dagger-gripping hands go numb.

However, he did not let go of the dagger.

Instead, he struggled to pull it out of the stalemate with the wooden sword.

He rolled backward several times like a wild beast before getting back on his feet, fixing Fujino with a ferocious gaze.

If it had been an ordinary person, they definitely would have dropped the dagger after taking Fujino's blow just now.

But Numabuchi Kiichiro did not.

Because he knew that if the dagger slipped from his grasp, death would be waiting for him!