The Shinigami Has Come Again
The organization's dissatisfaction with Miyano Akemi stemmed not only from the fact that she was still a kind person by nature, but more importantly, from her former boyfriend—Akai Shuichi.
Akai Shuichi, an FBI agent planted in the organization as an undercover operative, had used the alias Moroboshi Dai. By taking advantage of his relationship with Miyano Akemi, he had successfully infiltrated the organization and earned the codename Black Label Whiskey.
Two years ago, shortly before Kurumi joined the organization, Akai Shuichi's undercover identity had been exposed just as the organization's higher-ups had placed great expectations on him. For his own safety, he had fled back to America.
Although the organization believed Miyano Akemi had merely been used by Akai Shuichi, she had actually known long ago that he was an undercover agent. She simply had never exposed him.
Because of this, the organization had considered Miyano Akemi a "victim" as well and had not assassinated her. In the end, however, they had sidelined her completely, essentially leaving her to fend for herself.
But when Miyano Akemi requested permission to leave the organization with her younger sister, Miyano Shiho, the higher-ups, who had gradually developed murderous intentions toward her, assigned her the nearly impossible task of obtaining one billion yen for the organization and placed Gin in charge of supervising her.
Whether Miyano Akemi could actually complete the mission was not important. What mattered was that the organization would have an excuse to kill her.
If she succeeded, the organization would gain one billion yen and eliminate an unstable factor.
If she failed, the organization would lose nothing.
Would Miyano Akemi not know that?
Of course she would.
"Still, I have no interest whatsoever in whether Akai Shuichi is alive or dead." Kurumi took a blissful sip of coffee. "What matters is your attitude."
"My attitude?"
"Yes." Kurumi nodded. "Do you want to live, or do you want to die?"
On a bustling street somewhere in Tokyo, two beautiful young girls walked together.
They were Mouri Ran, the heroine, and her best friend, Suzuki Sonoko.
However, there was also a child beside Mouri Ran.
Suzuki Sonoko, with her neat brown short hair and delicate features, lowered her gaze toward Conan, who looked thoroughly bored. "Ran, why did we have to bring this little brat when it's just the two of us going out?"
Holding Conan's small hand, Mouri Ran looked at her friend. "I couldn't help it. Dad went off to bet on horse racing again, and you asked me to come out. I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving Conan home alone!"
Conan, whose true identity was Kudo Shinichi, shot Sonoko an irritated look.
Seriously, like I wanted to come out with you two... Conan had originally wanted to stay home and read. As far as he was concerned, that was far more interesting than shopping with women.
"Yeah, I suppose it can't be helped." Sonoko sighed. Noticing how exhausted Conan looked, she decided to find somewhere to rest.
She looked around, then suddenly remembered a good spot. "Oh, right, Ran! If I remember correctly, there should be a coffee shop nearby. The atmosphere there is really nice!"
"A coffee shop? Sure!" Mouri Ran, who also felt that they ought to rest for a while, looked at Conan. "Conan, how about we go have some coffee and take a break?"
After walking around since early morning, Conan's feet were already sore. Hearing that he would finally have somewhere to rest, he immediately looked as if a great burden had been lifted from him.
"Okay, Ran!"
Thus, led by Sonoko, the three of them finally found a coffee shop called ONIBUS after crossing several blocks.
"Welcome!"
The moment they pushed open the door, the three of them heard the waiter's enthusiastic greeting.
"Do you have somewhere a little quieter for three?" Unlike Ran and Conan, who were looking around the shop, Sonoko, who had been here before, asked bluntly.
"Yes." The waiter glanced at the empty seats, then gestured toward the booths.
"Thank you." After politely thanking him, Sonoko took the lead toward a seat near a corner.
Nearby, there was only a young man reading a newspaper.
The moment he finally sat down on the soft seat, Conan's aching feet made him reveal an expression of pure bliss.
So comfortable~
Conan did not really care whether he drank coffee or not. What mattered was that he genuinely wanted to rest.
"Ran, Conan, what would you like to drink?"
Sonoko opened the menu on the table and gave Mouri Ran first pick.
"Hmm..."
Looking at the dazzling array of names and pictures on the menu, and having no idea which one tasted best, she casually picked a coffee.
"What about you, Conan?" Mouri Ran asked.
"As for me, I'll have—" Conan had just been about to name his favorite coffee when Sonoko snatched the menu away.
"Kids can't drink coffee. You'll stunt your growth."
Conan's eye twitched at Sonoko's words.
Though his rational mind told him that Sonoko was indeed right and that children really should not drink such things.
Why did her tone make him feel so annoyed, then?!
"That's true. I'll order milk for Conan instead!" Mouri Ran, who had not noticed Conan's inner turmoil and had only just remembered, smiled at him. "Conan, if you want to drink coffee like us, you'll have to grow into an adult first!"
"..." Conan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end said nothing. Speechless, he shut his mouth and chose to be a good child.
Could this get any worse? I'm so angry I'm shaking. The old man in the back has forgotten the rest.
While waiting for the milk, Conan decided to use the restroom and calm his mind a little.
Meanwhile, Kurumi, who had been talking with Miyano Akemi for quite some time, had no idea that Tokyo's Shinigami had also come into the shop.
Having drunk too much coffee, she had just taken care of some personal business inside a stall in the women's restroom.
However, just as Kurumi was about to open the door and wash her hands, she suddenly caught a faint, familiar scent of blood mixed into the air freshener filling the restroom.
Hm? Is someone's period really that bad?
Since this was the women's restroom, Kurumi had not paid much attention to the smell of blood.
After all, women had those few days every month. A heavier flow was possible.
How did that saying go again?
People's constitutions could not be generalized.
But just as Kurumi was about to leave, blood slowly began to seep out from beneath the innermost stall.
"Whoa!"
Watching the blood slowly flow out, Kurumi froze.
What's going on? Is there really that much bleeding? Without thinking much about it, Kurumi widened her eyes.
It Was You Who Fought Without Honor
No!
Kurumi's expression instantly shifted from relaxed to deadly serious as her imagination ran wild.
The blood flowing from beneath the gap was thick and dark red. It was clearly blood from a major artery, and Kurumi immediately realized that something had definitely happened in the innermost stall.
What a hassle...
Under other circumstances, Kurumi might have gone in out of curiosity to see what exactly had happened.
But she had only just established initial contact with Miyano Akemi. If something else cropped up now...
Standing in the second-to-last stall, she summoned King Crimson to take a look. Sure enough, inside the restroom stall, a woman's corpse lay behind the door with a grotesque expression. The blood slowly flowing from her chest and the scattered wallet and other belongings around her proved that a murder had taken place here.
"Good grief... daze."
Speaking in an invincible tone, Kurumi turned and left without a second thought.
She had no intention of reporting it to the police and then being questioned just because she was the first person to discover the body.
She walked out of the restroom with a perfectly normal expression, washed her hands at the sink outside, then casually headed toward the private room where Miyano Akemi was waiting.
But man proposed, God disposed.
Kurumi had barely taken two steps when someone unexpected appeared before her.
"It's you!"
"It's you?"
The tall and short figures stared at each other, one astonished and the other despairing.
"It's over, it's over, it's over. The Shinigami is here..." Kurumi sighed despairingly. Looking at Conan standing before her, she instantly understood why she had found a corpse in the restroom.
"Hey! Who are you calling a Shinigami?!"
Hearing Kurumi call him, the Great Detective, a Shinigami, Conan immediately could not stand still.
"And that incident was your doing, wasn't it?"
"That incident?" Hearing Conan speak vaguely all the time just like Gin, Kurumi asked irritably, "I have no idea!"
Kurumi had not expected to run into Conan, this Shinigami, even here.
And under such terrible circumstances.
Her meeting with Miyano Akemi was a secret operation. If she simply went back now, Kurumi did not even need to think about it to know that, with Conan's personality, he would definitely keep following her.
At the moment, Miyano Akemi could not appear before Conan.
Otherwise, there would definitely be variables in Kurumi's next plan.
"Oh, right. I discovered something interesting. Do you want to know about it?" In order to divert Conan's attention, Kurumi decided to tell him what had happened in the women's restroom.
Seeing Kurumi's mysterious expression, Conan said irritably, "Do you think I would still trust you? You didn't keep our agreement."
"Agreement? You're still hung up on me taking out those two people?" Conan was clinging to the matter like chewing gum, and Kurumi was starting to feel impatient.
"That was clearly the police fighting without honor! They tricked me! They ambushed me! A sixteen-year-old girl in the prime of youth like me—was that okay? It was not okay."
"But—"
Conan still wanted to argue that he, too, had been blindsided by the police's sudden operation. But those two people were already dead. Though they had deserved it, Conan was still furious over Kurumi's lawless actions that time.
"Alright, alright, little detective. A murder has happened in the women's restroom. Can you stop following me around like a pervert?" Kurumi put her hands on her hips and stared at Conan. "Believe it or not, I'll apply to be a teacher at your school, keep you after class every day to do extra exercises, and suggest that Ran buy you even more workbooks and test papers to do at home."
Hearing such vicious words from Kurumi, Conan's eyes widened. "Are you a demon? You can even come up with such a sinister trick!"
As an elementary school student, Conan naturally knew full well that teachers in this era could make a student's life miserable with ridiculous ease.
"Wait, you said murder?" After his shock subsided, Conan suddenly reacted.
"Yeah. In the last stall of the women's restroom. I just looked—some woman was killed." Kurumi shrugged, saying it as if it were completely irrelevant.
"Really? Then why didn't you call the police?" Conan's expression instantly turned serious. He looked at Kurumi suspiciously. "You're not lying to me, are you?"
"What do I gain by lying to you? Would I go tell Ran that you secretly barged into the women's restroom to peek?"
"I feel like you actually would do something like that..."
"Believe it or not!" With that, Kurumi ignored Conan and prepared to go to the counter to order another coffee and dessert.
Feeling that Kurumi did not seem to be lying, Conan gritted his teeth and rushed straight into the women's restroom.
In the hallway, Kurumi, feeling that today had been unbelievably unlucky, took out her phone and sent Miyano Akemi a message in the private room.
Something happened outside. Leave immediately and wait for my message.
"Something happened outside. Leave immediately and wait for my message?"
Seeing the message on her phone, the obedient Miyano Akemi immediately put it away, rose to her feet without hesitation, and left the private room.
Although she did not know what had happened, Miyano Akemi decided to listen to Kurumi for the sake of safety.
In the main hall, Miyano Akemi, who was about to leave, saw Kurumi standing by the counter. Kurumi quietly waved toward the entrance, signaling her to leave at once.
Noticing Kurumi's gesture, Miyano Akemi nodded and left the coffee shop while pretending that nothing was wrong.
"Sir, please call the police immediately!"
After running all the way there and confirming that Kurumi had been telling the truth, Conan hurried over to a waiter who was clearing a table and spoke anxiously.
"Call the police? What happened, little brother?"
The waiter straightened up.
Before you continue