Little Ones, Don't Be Afraid

With Jiang Xia no longer obstructing him, Kazato Kyosuke finally managed, with great difficulty, to stand on both feet.

He was so moved he nearly wiped away tears, but before he could raise a hand, a tremendous force suddenly struck his back—the plainclothes officers had hurried over and, working together, pinned him to the ground. Then they expertly cuffed him, searched him, and pulled off his hat and face mask.

Kazato Kyosuke struggled once.

Then he slowly went still.

He had once thought that if his deeds were exposed and he was caught, he would resist until the very last second.

Yet now, when Kazato Kyosuke realized that the plainclothes officers were merely restraining him and had not started beating him, his eyes instantly welled with tears. The police suddenly seemed much friendlier.

Nearby, Jiang Xia noticed the killing intent loosening from Kazato Kyosuke and paused slightly.

"..." He had originally thought that someone as patient and obsessive as Kazato Kyosuke might not give up killing and obediently hand over his killing intent to a spirit medium until they reached the Police Station—or perhaps even court.

...He had not expected him to be so unable to take a beating.

He clearly had not hit him hard at all.

Of course, perhaps Kazato Kyosuke, being a respectable man, had suffered a devastating mental blow from being kicked and sent rolling through the street... So there was actually a way to collect ghosts like this?

Jiang Xia nodded thoughtfully. Watching Kazato Kyosuke, whose face was filled with serenity, being hauled into the vehicle by the plainclothes officers, he felt that he had discovered a new way to collect ghosts.

The ambulance arrived quickly and took away the victim lying in the telephone booth.

Jiang Xia had already lost interest in the case and was counting the ghosts and killing intent he had harvested from Kazato Kyosuke.

Just then, the light beside him dimmed as two burly plainclothes officers approached.

When the plainclothes officers had been chasing their suspect earlier, they had all heard Kazato Kyosuke's heart-wrenching cry of "Jiang Xia!"

They immediately realized that this young man, who had happened by and beaten up the murderer, might be connected to the case.

Of course, neither of them considered the possibility that Jiang Xia was a bad guy or Kazato Kyosuke's accomplice.

First, there had been Jiang Xia's earlier actions... which at first glance had seemed like assault, but should clearly have been viewed as acting righteously.

Then there were the four children beside him.

The plainclothes officers had seen it clearly while chasing the suspect—when the armed murderer ran this way, the children had quickly hidden behind Jiang Xia, seeming to trust him completely.

Someone liked and trusted by so many children did not seem like a bad person.

Thinking that, the plainclothes officers looked at the unlucky children caught up in the incident.

They found them huddled together like quails, too frightened to speak. The officers showed sympathy—poor kids, they must have been terrified by the criminal firing a gun in the street.

Plainclothes Officer A reached out and patted the children's heads, trying to offer them some comfort.

Plainclothes Officer B looked at Jiang Xia. "Do you know that man from earlier?"

Jiang Xia was silent for a moment before saying quietly, "His voice sounded familiar. He sounded a lot like my attending doctor."

The two plainclothes officers exchanged a look and nodded to themselves. That was right, Kazato Kyosuke was indeed a doctor.

It seemed the two really did know each other.

The plainclothes officers had driven a van to apprehend Kazato Kyosuke, and it was fairly spacious. But it would not do to cram ordinary citizens together with a murderer who had shot and injured someone.

Fortunately, the Police Station was not far from here, so the plainclothes officers left one person behind to accompany Jiang Xia and the children as they walked there.

All the way there, Conan seemed lost in thought and repeatedly stopped himself from speaking.

Jiang Xia's attending doctor was actually a murderer... He had never expected that.

Conan: ...No matter what illness it is, as long as treatment lasts long enough, a doctor will gradually build a bond and trust with the patient—especially in a department like Psychosomatic Medicine... Could Jiang Xia have gradually noticed something was wrong during that process, which was why he had always refused to go to the hospital?

But judging from how Jiang Xia had immediately stopped when the doctor shouted earlier, Jiang Xia did not seem to hate him that much either... Otherwise, forget stopping—he should have at least taken advantage of the chaos to kick him a few more times.

Conan's father was, after all, a mystery novel writer. Conan himself was also widely read and had quite an imagination.

As he thought, his thoughts began to drift. He recalled the cases in novels and movies where psychiatrists first deceived patients into giving them their precious trust, then manipulated them into committing crimes.

Could it be...

Conan immediately became alert, feeling that the situation was serious. He really wanted to say something, but had no idea what exactly to say.

In the end, he looked at Jiang Xia and let out a world-weary sigh.

—His parents were both dead, his mental state was worrying, and he kept running into murder cases... Even when he simply went for an ordinary checkup, he had somehow encountered such an unethical doctor.

They had all grown up on the same street.

Why was Jiang Xia the only one who always ran into scumbags?

Unlike Conan, who was silently worrying beside him,

Jiang Xia was in an excellent mood.

—He had gone out today and picked up a Leg-Clinging Shikigami, as well as the rare Mushroom Soup Base-flavored killing intent he had coveted for so long.

As they left the Metropolitan Police Department, Jiang Xia looked at the children beside him and nearly wanted to present the Detective Boys with a banner reading, "Case Magnets, Friends of Spirit Mediums."

The three children shuddered under his gaze. When they came back to themselves, they quietly said that they wanted to go play in the park, promising to behave and not bump into passing pedestrians.

For a moment, Jiang Xia did not understand why they had to report to him just because they wanted to play. But he could not be bothered to ask and quickly nodded.

The three children grabbed Conan and dashed off, their retreating figures like three birds escaping a cage and flying into the sky.

...Well, there was also one old bird pretending to be young among them, looking back every three steps, though his attempt to resist had failed.