Outlaws in Conan's World, Tokisaki Kurumi: Shinigami Arrives

It would be better to leave this matter to Conan and the others, who would not arrive for a few more days.

Early the next morning, Kurumi got up at dawn. After washing up, she found Aso Narumi sitting in the first-floor examination room.

"Good morning, Sister Seijitsu!" Kurumi, carrying a shoulder bag, cheerfully greeted Aso Narumi, who was wearing a white coat.

Seeing Kurumi, who had kept her conflicted all night, Aso Narumi, having decided not to dwell on Kurumi's identity, also gave her a sweet smile.

"Good morning!"

Seeing that she seemed to be in fairly good spirits, Kurumi glanced around. After confirming there was no one else in the room, she walked over to Seijitsu and took out the document envelope she had found the previous night from her bag.

"Huh? What is this?"

Aso Narumi, who knew nothing about it, asked in confusion.

Kurumi merely smiled, opened the envelope, and handed the sheet music inside to Seijitsu.

"This? I found it last night."

"As for where it came from..." Kurumi deliberately left her hanging. "That's a secret!"

Shinigami Arrives

Moon Shadow Island seemed calm on the surface, but Kurumi's arrival had gradually stirred undercurrents beneath it. Today began as ordinarily as any other day.

The morning sea was shrouded in fog.

Through the hazy mist, a boat sailed toward Moon Shadow Island's harbor.

On the deck, a mustached man in a suit leaned against the railing with a look of disgust and boredom, listlessly complaining about the awful weather.

Behind him, two people carrying bags—one tall and one small—were the complete opposite of the bored man. Both looked excited.

Even though the fog was thick.

However, unlike the tall girl, the boy with the build of an elementary school student was not excited about visiting an island far from the bustle of the big city, but about why they had come here.

That elementary school student, whose excitement was written all over his face, was the Great Detective known as the Shinigami, Edogawa Conan.

On the night of the next full moon, shadows will vanish once more on Moon Shadow Island—Aso Keiji.

That sentence, made from letters cut out of newspapers, had been pasted onto a letter sent to Mouri Kogoro's detective agency several days earlier.

Unlike Conan, who had caught the scent of a case, Mouri Kogoro himself had not been particularly interested in the vague message sent by the man calling himself Aso Keiji.

However, when the man called and said the reward would be a full five hundred thousand yen, Mouri Kogoro immediately perked up.

Thus, early that morning, Mouri Kogoro brought his daughter and Conan, who was staying at his home, aboard a boat to Moon Shadow Island in the Izu Islands.

Back at Aso Narumi's clinic, Seijitsu and Kurumi, who had become quite close over the past few days, were happily eating breakfast and drinking milk.

"Sister Seijitsu, if we calculate the time, Mouri Kogoro and the others you invited from Tokyo should be arriving soon, right?" Kurumi asked as she drank warm milk.

"Probably. I remember calling them two days in advance." Aso Narumi thought for a moment. "If they're really punctual, they should arrive today."

Looking at Kurumi before her, Aso Narumi, whose inner knot had completely unraveled, now trusted her completely.

"But Kurumi, what do you think I should do?" Thinking of those culprits, Aso Narumi did not want to take anyone's life, but simply letting them go left her feeling deeply unsettled.

"Even if there are laws..."

Before Seijitsu could finish, Kurumi cut her off. "The law comes too late."

Setting down her cup and wiping her mouth with a tissue, Kurumi said with utter disdain, "Never mind that Japanese law has no death penalty. After what those three scum did, Sister Seijitsu, do you really think they deserve to keep living?"

"If we leave it to the law, those people will spend, at most, ten or twenty years in prison before walking free. Can that really count as receiving the lesson they deserve?"

Kurumi's words made Seijitsu's relaxed expression grow increasingly solemn.

That was right. In Japan, where there was no death penalty, could those people who had committed murder and taken her family from her truly erase their crimes with nothing more than prison sentences?

The fury in her heart burned ever hotter. Seijitsu, who had been wavering over whether to personally kill her enemies, gradually changed her mind.

This was probably what people meant by getting angrier the more they thought about it.

"But that Great Detective Mouri Kogoro is coming. If I act again, won't he discover me?"

Seijitsu's words left Kurumi somewhat speechless.

"I mean, if Sister Seijitsu wanted to act from the beginning, why did you call them here? Did you really want to become a martyr that badly?"

Put that way by Kurumi, Seijitsu felt a little embarrassed as well.

She defended herself, "That was because there wasn't... because you weren't here!"

By the end, Seijitsu's voice had grown quieter and quieter.

In her original plan, Kurumi did not exist. After killing those people, she would return to the room where the piano her father had left her was kept and reunite with her family.

The main reason she had invited Mouri Kogoro was that she needed a witness.

"Honestly!"

Looking at Seijitsu's pitiful appearance, Kurumi could not help saying, "Let's not talk about before anymore! According to the new plan, we'll deliberately let Mouri Kogoro discover what happened to your father, then guide them toward those scum's White Powder trafficking!"

"As for what comes next, leave it to me!"

Kurumi, brimming with confidence, had already made ample preparations for what came next.

Half an hour later, when the clinic opened, Seijitsu was wiping down the glass door with a rag.

Remembering what Kurumi had told her before leaving, Seijitsu did not quite understand why Kurumi had specifically told her to pretend not to know her.

Unable to figure it out no matter how much she thought, Seijitsu wiped the windows while guessing that perhaps Mouri Kogoro, the detective, had some kind of conflict with Kurumi's faction from his career.

To avoid getting herself dragged into it, Kurumi had specifically instructed her to pretend not to know her.

Just as Seijitsu was lost in thought, a woman's voice suddenly came from behind her.

"Excuse me, could you tell us how to get to the Community Center?"

Stopping what she was doing, Seijitsu turned around and saw Mouri Kogoro and the other two.

The one who had just spoken to her appeared, judging from her age and appearance, to be Mouri Kogoro's daughter.

As for the elementary-school-aged boy who was the third member of the group...

Seijitsu did not know what to make of him.

Could he be Mouri Kogoro's child from his later years? Seijitsu did not think that was likely.

Could he be Mouri Ran's... Seijitsu looked at Conan's utterly innocent face and suddenly began to wonder whether she had become mentally unstable over the past few days.

Shaking her head inwardly, Seijitsu deliberately pretended not to know Mouri Kogoro and pointed toward a turn not far away. "Turn at the corner ahead, then keep going straight to the end of the road!"

After accepting the trio's thanks, Seijitsu watched their retreating backs, though no one knew what she was thinking.

Meanwhile, Kurumi stood on a hillside somewhere, looking down as she watched the group of three slowly make their way to the Community Center.

Ignoring the usual crowd protesting in front of the Community Center's main entrance, Kurumi considered how she ought to torment that blockhead Conan over the next few days.

The Plan Is Underway

There were many ways to torment someone. Compared to using force to bully Conan directly, Kurumi preferred to pressure him psychologically.

A wicked smile tugged at her lips as a little idea emerged in her mind.

After wandering around the mountain for a while and taking a few scenic photographs she liked with her camera, Kurumi followed a mountain path down to the clinic.

Pushing open the glass door and walking in, Kurumi found Aso Narumi, who had just finished cleaning.

"Kurumi?"

"Good morning, Sister Seijitsu~" Kurumi cheerfully greeted her, then asked curiously, "I saw them from the mountain just now. Sister Seijitsu, what did you think of Mouri Kogoro?"

Kurumi's question made Aso Narumi freeze before she asked in surprise, "The mountain? Kurumi, you could see this place from the mountain?"

Seijitsu knew very well that even the nearest mountain was three or four hundred meters away.

It was true that one could overlook the village below from a high place, but...

Thinking this, Aso Narumi looked Kurumi over. Kurumi carried only a camera bag. Aside from that, Seijitsu saw nothing resembling binoculars.

"As for that~" Kurumi declared proudly, "I'm quite confident in my eyesight!"

Hearing that, Aso Narumi was even more surprised.

She did not suspect Kurumi was boasting. From their interactions over this period, Aso Narumi could tell that Kurumi was not lying to her.

"Is it really that incredible?"

"Of course, but let's not talk about that." Kurumi asked, "Sister Seijitsu, you still haven't answered my question."

"My question?" Aso Narumi let out an "Oh," then her expression turned conflicted. "I feel like Detective Mouri doesn't seem very reliable. Can he really solve what happened to my father?"

Kurumi was not surprised by Aso Narumi's answer.

Even she herself often doubted Mouri Kogoro's professional ability.

Based on her earlier investigation, Mouri Kogoro, as a private detective, was best at investigating affairs and similar matters. As for cases truly involving murder, this Great Detective had only been passable so far.

However, based on Kurumi's understanding of the plot from her previous life, she seriously suspected that this lecherous, alcohol-loving uncle was far from as simple as he appeared. Especially when it concerned his family—Mouri Ran and his separated wife, Kisaki Eri—the sharp insight and quick mind he displayed further proved that Mouri Kogoro had been hiding his true strength all along.

Therefore, Kurumi could not give a decisive answer to Seijitsu's question.

"Maybe he isn't very reliable sometimes, but now that their family is here, let's continue with the original plan."

Aso Narumi nodded. "That's all we can do."

After chatting for several minutes, Aso Narumi glanced at the clock on the wall and suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Slapping her palm, Aso Narumi said, "Today is the memorial service at the Community Center for Kameyama, who died three years ago!"

Although she was talking about something as heavy as a death, Aso Narumi's beautiful face wore a very happy expression.

Her excitement was nearly greater than New Year's.

But Kurumi understood.

After all, the former village chief, Kameyama, had been one of the culprits responsible for murdering Seijitsu's family.

With him dead, Aso Narumi was naturally very happy.

Especially after learning that Kameyama had been scared to death by something Aso Narumi said, Kurumi also felt delighted for Seijitsu.

"I'll go upstairs and change clothes first. What about you, Kurumi?"

Aso Narumi clearly wanted to share such a happy occasion with Kurumi.

"I'm not from this island. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to attend something like that merely as a tourist, would it?" Although Kurumi wanted to join in the celebration after being invited, she seemed somewhat troubled after considering that her identity made it inconvenient.

Hearing Kurumi's answer, Aso Narumi knew that she had been too happy to consider that aspect.

"You're right..." Seijitsu looked somewhat regretful.

At night, inside the Community Center near the sea.

"Honestly, how much longer are we supposed to wait?" Mouri Kogoro sat carelessly on the steps in front of the Community Center entrance, smoking and exhaling clouds of smoke as he complained unhappily. "From this morning until now, aside from that fat guy with glasses talking about the Cursed Piano, we haven't gotten a single clue!"

"Dad, do you think curses really exist in this world?" Mouri Ran leaned against a pillar. Though she was bored as well, she was very concerned about what that fat man had said earlier.

Especially the panic and fear he had displayed seemed to prove that the piano was haunted by some curse, evil spirit, or other frightening thing.

In response to his daughter's unscientific words, Mouri Kogoro said righteously, "How could something like that exist? Those evil spirits and curses are just rumors spread among the villagers."

As a former police detective and current private detective, Mouri Kogoro had never believed such things existed in the world.

He was a firm materialist.

Unlike the father and daughter discussing curses, Conan sat on the steps with a serious expression, thinking over what he had discovered.

The villagers' terrified reactions to the name Aso Keiji, along with that old-looking piano that still sounded perfectly normal when played, made Conan very concerned about whatever hidden trick might be involved.

Combined with the strange letter sent to the Mouri household, an ominous feeling rose in Conan's heart.

While the family outside each harbored their own thoughts, inside the solemn, oppressive memorial service room, a man in a black suit pulled open the door with a mocking smile and walked out.