Lawless Outlaw in the World of Conan, Tokisaki Kurumi

Asai Seijitsu.

She was the female doctor who opened a clinic on Moon Shadow Island a few years ago.

Gentle, beautiful, considerate, kind...

From the first time he met Seijitsu, Yusuke felt he had fallen in love.

Since he already had someone in his heart, Yusuke paid no mind to his mother's words, letting them go in one ear and out the other.

Yusuke even suspected his mother might be exaggerating about the woman just to trick him into settling down, seeing as he'd been single for so long.

However, when the beautiful girl his mother spoke of actually appeared before him, Yusuke knew he was wrong.

Her graceful figure and incredibly alluring legs were enough to make his heart race, even just seeing her from behind.

If her back was this beautiful, what about her front?

Driven by curiosity and impulse, Yusuke suddenly called out.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

The girl, named Tokisaki Kurumi, turned around, and Yusuke was stunned.

Beautiful, undoubtedly beautiful.

She was so stunning that Yusuke was momentarily speechless, unable to find words to describe her.

She was the perfect combination of an angel's face and a devil's seductive allure.

"Um, I..." Although she looked about high school age, Yusuke, who was at least five years older, felt like a naive, pure-hearted boy in love in front of her, completely flustered.

"I, I wanted to ask what you'd like for dinner!"

Yusuke blurted out in a moment of panic.

Chapter 26: Moon Shadow Island Sightings (Part 2)

She wore a black short-sleeved sweater, black denim shorts, and black stockings.

Kurumi, who had a penchant for dark colors since her past life, still favored them today.

This was probably one of the reasons she was assigned as a member of the Organization by the system...

Returning to the lobby, Kurumi thought for a moment after hearing Yusuke's stammering question.

Although the food here was quite good, since she was here as a tourist, she wanted to experience the local flavors.

During her reconnaissance yesterday, Kurumi had spotted a few small eateries that seemed to be doing good business.

As someone from a country of food lovers, Kurumi knew that many of the best dishes were hidden away in alleyways. These places might look humble, but their taste was beloved by the common people.

"No, thank you. For dinner, I plan to explore the village." To avoid making him think she disliked his cooking, Kurumi added, "Sister Seijitsu from the clinic recommended quite a few places last night, and I plan to spend more time checking them out today."

"Since there are many beautiful night views, I plan to eat out tonight and take more photos afterward."

As she spoke, Kurumi gestured to the backpack slung over her shoulder, indicating that her camera was inside.

Hearing Kurumi's words, Yusuke almost thought she didn't like his cooking.

But thankfully, it was just because she planned to spend more time exploring outside that she wouldn't be eating here.

Yusuke felt an inexplicable sense of relief.

"I see. Indeed, Moon Shadow Island has many beautiful night views." Trying to cover his awkwardness, Yusuke suddenly focused on the key part of Kurumi's statement.

"Oh, right, you said Ms. Asai from the clinic was here last night?"

Mentioning the woman he had a crush on, Yusuke's tone became slightly excited.

Seeing his reaction, the sharp-eyed Kurumi immediately guessed that this kid definitely liked Asai Seijitsu.

Furthermore, judging by how Yusuke referred to Asai Seijitsu, he was likely still in the unrequited love phase.

In other words, a one-sided crush.

Thinking this, Kurumi felt a mix of schadenfreude and regret.

What a shame, Asai Seijitsu in this timeline isn't a cross-dresser...

Otherwise, his reaction would have been priceless if he knew the person he admired was actually a man.

Kurumi's little prank fell through.

Even though she had already figured out the truth, Kurumi put on a confused expression.

"Yes, Sister Seijitsu said she'd be at the clinic in the village," Kurumi replied, feigning ignorance.

After confirming the news from Kurumi, Yusuke opened his mouth but said nothing.

He envied that Kurumi could call the person she admired "sister" after meeting her just last night, while he...

Thinking of his past failed confession, which only left them as mere acquaintances, Yusuke felt a pang of bitterness. He was incredibly envious of how quickly Kurumi had become so familiar with Asai Seijitsu.

This... is probably how girls bond... And they both came from Tokyo, so they should have more in common.

Damn it! I'm not envious! Yusuke felt a deep ache in his heart, especially when he learned they had even soaked in a hot spring together last night. It made him so envious he wished he could fly to Thailand and get surgery immediately.

Uh oh... Should I have really said that to provoke him? Seeing the almost tangible envy and jealousy radiating from Yusuke, Kurumi regretted her slip of the tongue.

Leaving the inn, which was on the verge of becoming a mansion of resentment, Kurumi found herself inexplicably walking towards a white building on the village street, bearing the sign "Moon Shadow Island Clinic."

Although the building looked a bit old, the flowerbeds flanking the entrance, planted with greenery and flowers, showed signs of being well-cared for.

To the right of the clinic, on the first floor, a sign displayed the clinic's operating hours.

"Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 12 PM, 1 PM to 6 PM, weekends off?!"

Standing before the wooden sign and looking at the clinic's hours, Kurumi felt an immense sense of envy.

Five days on, two days off, nine to six.

This was something that made countless overworked employees incredibly envious!

Recalling her own past work, Kurumi admitted she was genuinely envious.

Still the old-fashioned sliding glass doors, Kurumi prepared to go inside to see Asai Seijitsu and pay her a visit.

According to the information Kurumi had received from Seijitsu yesterday, the clinic was currently staffed solely by Seijitsu as the doctor.

But it made sense when you thought about it. Moon Shadow Island wasn't that large to begin with. For minor illnesses or injuries, prescribing medicine and giving IV drips would be manageable with Asai Seijitsu and two part-time nurses.

As for serious illnesses or accidents, the clinic wouldn't be able to help.

They would have to take a boat to the city across the bay.

Pushing open the glass door and entering the clinic, Kurumi was met with the smell of disinfectant.

Frowning slightly, Kurumi didn't like the scent.

"Hello, can I help you with something?"

As Kurumi surveyed her surroundings, a woman about twenty years old, wearing a white coat, emerged from an inner room and asked.

"Ah, is Doctor Asai in?" Kurumi replied.

The woman shook her head. "I'm sorry, Doctor Asai went to a villager's house at noon and hasn't returned yet."

Then, the woman added, "Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, no," Kurumi waved her hand, explaining, "It's nothing major that I need to see her for. Since she's not here, I'll be going now."

With that, Kurumi turned and walked out of the clinic.

Kurumi had initially hoped to glean more information from Asai Seijitsu, but now that she wasn't here, there was no point in staying.

"Never mind, I should deal with lunch first," Kurumi thought, heading towards the ramen shop from yesterday's memory.

Half an hour later, Kurumi emerged from the ramen shop feeling like she had wasted her money.

Although Kurumi had earned quite a bit of money from her missions over the years, even being considered a small-time rich woman, she still felt a bit uncomfortable when spending money she considered not worth it.

For example, taking taxis in Japan.

And this ramen shop, which seemed to be doing good business...

The ramen tasted truly awful. In fact, compared to ordinary ramen shops, everything from the noodles to the ingredients gave a very poor impression.

However, to avoid wasting food, Kurumi closed her eyes and finished the excessively salty ramen.

"Sigh..." Kurumi really wanted to complain, but the salty taste in her mouth made her feel it would be best to buy a bottle of water to rinse her mouth.

27 A Change in Mindset

Group 488749799

She ran to the convenience store next door and bought a bottle of drink to mask the salty taste in her mouth. After chugging half of it in one go, Kurumi finally felt a bit more comfortable.

Recalling the taste of the ramen, the features on Kurumi's small face were almost scrunched together, looking comparable to King Crimson.

Kurumi felt that her good mood for the day had been pretty much ruined by the owner of that ramen shop.

Because she had spent money unnecessarily and felt uncomfortable, Kurumi exuded an aura of irritation. The anger in her heart had even turned her original plan of sightseeing into finding a place to vent.

If this were during a mission, Kurumi would have unhesitatingly used King Crimson to deliver three pages of consecutive punches to the mission target, Ora Ora-ing like Star Platinum beating up The World.

But now, she couldn't.

With a sigh of melancholy, as a highly trained senior member of the Organization, Kurumi quickly adjusted her mindset and prepared to head to the nearby mountains to overlook the sea.

However, just as Kurumi was about to follow the most famous viewpoints that Asai Seijitsu had told her about last night, a sudden clamor erupted from the village.

"Hmm?"

Judging by the sound, it seemed like a large number of villagers were gathering in the village.

Driven by a hint of curiosity, Kurumi decided to see what was happening in the village to cause such a commotion.

Compelled by curiosity, Kurumi walked into the village and noticed about thirty to thirty-four villagers not far away, holding banners and wooden signs, heading towards the village chief's office.

'Are they going to protest?' Looking at the villagers' formation and the intelligence gathered about the village so far, Kurumi roughly concluded that these people were likely going to the chief's place for some kind of protest.

As for what they were protesting, Kurumi expressed no interest in knowing.

Deciding to stay out of it, Kurumi was about to leave when she spotted Asai Seijitsu, wearing a white coat and carrying a bag, walking from the other end of the alley.

As if she were long accustomed to it, Asai Seijitsu showed no surprise at the gathered crowd.

On the contrary, she even kindly greeted some of them.

It was clear that Asai Seijitsu was genuinely well-liked in the village.

In fact, if she hadn't known some of the plot, Kurumi would have thought Asai Seijitsu was a kind doctor, not someone who wanted to avenge her family and kill the murderers responsible.

Thinking of this, Kurumi felt a pang of regret.

Recalling their conversation in the hot springs that night, the genuine, unfeigned gentleness and kindness she felt from Asai Seijitsu made Kurumi even waver in her own plan.

Is it really necessary for me to let a doctor, who should be saving lives, take others' lives, just to help that hot-blooded idiot Kudo Shinichi grow? Kurumi doubted herself.

It was similar to how she had helped Director Ochiai at the art museum before.

Although those were system-assigned tasks, it was ultimately Kurumi's decision whether to complete them.

Perhaps it was out of sympathy for what these people had gone through that Kurumi helped Ochiai with the mindset of 'let them handle it themselves, I'll just clean up the mess.'

Kurumi knew that at the time, she had still chosen to act personally due to the task and her own twisted sense of amusement.

She hadn't considered the inner thoughts of the people involved in the events at all.

One could even say that Kurumi had always been satisfying her own pleasure derived from looking down on everyone from a high vantage point from the very beginning.

But now, after interacting with Asai Seijitsu, Kurumi could feel that the other woman's demeanor wasn't a pretense, but a genuine love for her identity as a doctor and the tranquility of rural life away from the city.

Really, this is quite a difficult problem... Hiding in an alley and watching Asai Seijitsu leave, Kurumi felt her thoughts becoming muddled.

With her mind full of worries, Kurumi arrived at a cliff somewhere on the mountain.

From here, she could overlook the entire sea.