Outlaw in the World of Conan, Tokisaki Kurumi

Or rather, Miyano Shiho, who hadn't shrunk from taking the drug.

However, Kurumi wouldn't reveal secrets that only she knew.

This was true even though she and Vermouth got along well.

"I understand, I'll go the day after tomorrow," Kurumi nodded, agreeing to the matter.

"Very good~" Vermouth, clearly satisfied with Kurumi, spoke with a much happier tone.

However, Vermouth's next sentence made Kurumi shiver: "Oh right, if it's possible... Kurumi-chan, could you tell me... if Kudo Shinichi was bullied by Gin?"

Dangerous.

Extremely dangerous.

From Vermouth's tone, Kurumi could sense a hint of displeasure.

Although this displeasure was hidden beneath a casual tone, Kurumi, who knew her well, knew Vermouth was angry.

Fortunately, Kudo Shinichi had only shrunk and wasn't killed by Gin on the spot, otherwise, Vermouth would have dragged her to constantly cause trouble for Gin and then take the opportunity to eliminate him.

This wasn't an exaggeration; Vermouth was capable of such actions.

Although everyone in the Organization appeared to be colleagues on the surface, they all knew how much pretense there was.

Especially those double agents sent into the Organization by various countries, they were more eager for people within the Organization to kill each other due to conflicts.

Organizing her thoughts, Kurumi felt it was difficult to explain.

"Uh... in a way, you could say that," Kurumi explained vaguely. "Kudo Shinichi was given a drug by Gin. Right now... he's become a child and is temporarily living with Mouri Kogoro under the alias Edogawa Conan."

After Kurumi finished speaking, there was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Kurumi guessed Vermouth was processing what she had just said.

After a long pause, Vermouth's tone became slightly heavy: "Kudo Shinichi shrunk? What drug did he take?"

"It's that APTX-4869 developed by Miyano Shiho," Kurumi said truthfully.

"Were you at the scene when it happened?" Vermouth's tone made Kurumi feel a little uncomfortable.

Although she understood that Kudo Shinichi and Mouri Ran had saved Vermouth's life, which was why Vermouth cared so much about those two.

She even treated them like a son and daughter.

But when she heard Vermouth blaming her for it, Kurumi found it a bit hard to accept.

That idiot had brazenly run over and courted death himself. Was she supposed to just go up to Gin and say, "This person can't be killed!" and stop him just because she was there? Was that even possible?

If Gin's temper flared up, he would definitely take her down with him.

However, despite feeling uncomfortable inside, Kurumi didn't show it when she spoke: "Yes, Gin had just caught Kudo Shinichi witnessing a transaction between Vodka and another person."

Hearing Kurumi say this, Vermouth also felt a bit helpless.

She knew Gin's temper and understood that Kudo Shinichi's current state was his own doing.

But at least the guy's life was saved, so it didn't matter if his body shrunk.

"Forget it, it's his own fault he ended up like this," Vermouth said to herself, completely oblivious to Kurumi's feelings. "You don't need to pay too much attention to Kudo Shinichi. After learning this lesson, I think he'll be more careful in the future."

After hearing Vermouth's words, Kurumi really wanted to say, "No, that idiot has completely escalated things!" But after thinking about it, Kurumi decided it was better not to say too much, lest the woman who cared about her foster son fly to Tokyo and personally teach him a lesson. That would be too much fun.

"Yes, yes, yes!" To keep Vermouth quietly in America, Kurumi nodded in agreement. "That kid should have learned his lesson."

"Alright, let's not talk about Kudo Shinichi anymore. However, Kurumi, you should pay more attention to Gin while you're in Japan." When she said "pay attention," Vermouth deliberately emphasized the words.

It was clear that Vermouth wanted Kurumi to cause some trouble for Gin.

After hanging up the phone, Kurumi's expression turned cold.

She was jealous.

55 Conan and Narumi

From a rational perspective, Kurumi could understand that Vermouth's feelings for Conan and Mouri Ran stemmed from 'care' rather than affection.

But emotionally, Vermouth asking Kurumi to look after Conan made her feel very uneasy.

Even though Kurumi could clearly grasp the relative importance of the two, it didn't stop her from planning to 'take care' of Conan in her own way in the coming days.

After Kurumi left to take the call, Conan and Aso Narumi were left staring at each other.

An awkward atmosphere gradually spread between them.

"Um..." Looking at Conan, Aso Narumi increasingly felt that this kid was no ordinary person.

Coupled with his conversation with Kurumi, his thought process confirmed this.

"Should I call you Aso Narumi, or Asai Narumi?" With Kurumi gone, Conan's nervousness and anger had somewhat subsided. Consequently, his expression towards Aso Narumi was no longer as gloomy as before.

"Just call me Aso Narumi," Aso Narumi shook his head, his tone softening. "After all, that's my real name."

"Is that so..." For a moment, Conan didn't know what to say.

In his heart, he really wanted to ask Aso Narumi why he was hanging out with Kurumi. And judging from their previous interactions, their seemingly harmonious and intimate behavior suggested a closer connection than just friends.

"Was it you or Tokisaki who sent the warning letter to Uncle Kogoro's house and made the phone call?"

Faced with Conan's question, Aso Narumi, knowing that her and Kurumi's plan had been exposed, didn't intend to hide it anymore.

Learning that Aso Narumi was responsible, Conan's doubts only grew. "Why?"

He asked, "Since you and Tokisaki wanted to kill those people, why go through all this trouble? Isn't that contradictory?"

She wanted revenge for her family, yet she specifically sent a warning letter to a detective. Conan couldn't understand why Aso Narumi would go to such lengths.

Unless...

Thinking of a possibility, Conan tentatively asked, "Could it be that you hadn't met Tokisaki back then, and while you were planning your revenge, you also hoped someone would stop you... Is that it?"

Although this guess was highly contradictory, if it were the kind-hearted female doctor Aso Narumi, Conan felt it was extremely likely.

"It seems you're truly not an ordinary person..." Aso Narumi said with some emotion. From Conan's eyes, she could sense a maturity and shrewdness beyond that of a child.

No wonder Kurumi told me to watch out for this kid, Narumi secretly warned herself.

Although their plan had been discovered by this kid, it didn't mean their future actions would fail. There was still room for recovery.

Taking Narumi's sigh of emotion as praise for himself, Conan couldn't help but show a confident and mysterious smile.

"My name is Edogawa Conan, and I'm a detective!"

Finally, Conan uttered the famous line etched into countless people's DNA.

"A detective, huh..." Narumi muttered.

At this point, with no turning back, she began to regret her earlier actions of unnecessarily sending letters and making calls to Mouri Kogoro's detective agency.

If she had met Kurumi earlier, her revenge would probably have gone much smoother.

"So? Do you want me to persuade Kurumi to stop?" Aso Narumi stared at Conan, unwilling to let down the efforts Kurumi had made for her. At this moment, Narumi's impression of Conan had significantly declined.

Hearing the sarcasm hidden in Aso Narumi's words, Conan knew he probably couldn't convince her on his own.

Therefore, instead of getting into an unnecessary argument due to their differing ideals, Conan decided to start with Aso Narumi, try to extract her plan, and then ensure the lives of the remaining two people before the agreed-upon date.

"No, I just want to know about the feud between you and the other three people. But I'm curious why Tokisaki would help you. Did you know each other before? Or... for some other reason?"

Trying to trick me? Aso Narumi's eyes narrowed slightly. Conan wanting to trick her was also within Kurumi's calculations. Moreover, Kurumi had already told her what she could and couldn't say.

Narumi didn't directly answer Conan's question but instead posed a question: "Conan, do you know about China, which is just across the sea from us?"

"China?" Hearing Narumi suddenly mention the neighboring country, Conan thought for a moment. "Of course."

"Very good," Narumi continued. "Then do you know the significance of the white powder that Kuroiwa and the others are selling, this thing that harms the nation and its people, to China?"

Conan, who had a decent grasp of history, nodded. He seemed to sense why Narumi had suddenly brought this up.

"Could it be that Tokisaki lived in China?"

Based on this guess, Conan could also understand why Kurumi would show no mercy to people like Kuroiwa.

Conan sighed, "If that's the case, I think I understand."

China, a great nation, had suffered humiliation from such substances historically, making its crackdown on drugs arguably the strictest in the world even today. The deep-seated hatred that was ingrained in their souls had also come at a terrible price in their fight against it.

And perhaps the most memorable were those anti-drug police officers who fought on the front lines.

Seeing Conan's pensive expression, Aso Narumi also felt a sense of emotion.

She remembered clearly that when Kurumi told her about this matter, the expression and eyes on Kurumi's face revealed her hatred and anger without any concealment.

Especially when Kurumi spoke of how her friend had sacrificed their life for this cause, Aso Narumi could clearly feel that deep-seated sadness.

"Do you know, little detective?"

"Kurumi told me that in the Organization, she personally took down a group of people who, using the Organization's convenience, were selling that stuff in the city."

"And after that, she also faced suppression and assassination attempts."

Aso Narumi was relaying what Kurumi had told her.

More importantly, what Kurumi said was the truth, not a lie. As for the sacrificed friend, it was also true, but it originated from Kurumi's past life.

"What!" Conan was shocked when he heard this.

He had never imagined that Kurumi would do something like that.

56 Initial Cooperation (Second Update)

In Conan's eyes, he had already seen Kurumi as a killer with a sweet exterior but a ruthless heart. However, when he learned from Aso Narumi that Kurumi, whom he thought was cold-blooded, had disregarded the Organization's interests and personally killed a group of 'colleagues' selling white powder, Conan suddenly couldn't figure her out.

As a detective with some understanding of the underworld, Conan knew very well that for Kurumi to do something like this as an individual meant she had damaged the Organization's interests and also 'betrayed' her comrades.

Such a member would inevitably face assassination and ostracism.

"So, that's why Tokisaki approached me about cooperating?" Conan murmured, his impression of Kurumi having slightly improved.

"Perhaps. Kurumi didn't tell me much about the Organization, but judging by her tone, she probably doesn't have a good impression of it." The kind Aso Narumi had once asked Kurumi why she didn't leave the Organization, but the latter had just smiled and shaken her head, remaining silent.

Looking at the room where Kurumi was, Aso Narumi's eyes revealed gratitude and a hint of heartache.

"Actually, the biggest reason Kurumi chose to help me is probably because of what these people did."

Aso Narumi didn't know that the biggest reason Kurumi chose to help her was actually her attraction to Narumi's body.

Of course, this is just one aspect.

Although his heart was somewhat shaken by Aso Narumi's words, Conan still couldn't agree with Kurumi's casual slaughter of other people's lives as if they were mere weeds.

'If Tokisaki is truly as Aso Narumi described, perhaps we could indeed reach some form of cooperation.' Conan, whose entire focus was on finding a way to return from Kudo Shinichi to his current child-like form, began to change his mind.

As long as he could give up the lives of those two scumbags.

Meanwhile, Aso Narumi, who was quietly observing Conan, was also filled with thoughts.

She was extremely curious about who Conan really was; the feeling was as bothersome as a cat scratching at her.

However, the intelligent woman knew what questions to ask and what to pretend not to know or want to know.

She didn't want to make Kurumi uncomfortable, so she suppressed her curiosity.

Just as Conan and Aso Narumi fell into silence once more, Kurumi, having finished her phone call, walked out.

Kurumi's expression remained unchanged, still maintaining that calm demeanor.

"How is it? Little detective, isn't it time to leave?"

The first thing Kurumi said upon returning from her call was to dismiss Conan.

"Alright, I will honor our agreement. Now, can you tell me about your organization's intelligence?" Conan, who hadn't forgotten, didn't seem ready to leave.

Seeing that Conan wasn't fooled, Kurumi said with some impatience, "Fine, fine. What I can tell you now is that Gin, who knocked you out, is one of the Organization's most capable assassins. The other one, named Vodka, is Gin's driver. He's not very bright, but he's still somewhat capable."

Kurumi said this directly, without any intention of hiding it from Aso Narumi.

However, just because Kurumi didn't care didn't mean Narumi felt the same.

Aso Narumi hesitantly asked, "Um, is it really okay for me to hear this kind of thing? Should I step away?"

"No need!" Kurumi grabbed Aso Narumi's small hand. Feeling the soft sensation in her hand, Kurumi was reluctant to let go.