Why is Bourbon here?

It took Tang Ze two hours to finally reach Beika Station, and it was already quite late.

Although Tang Ze wasn't Japanese before transmigrating, he had spent time in Tokyo and had some idea of the hassle of taking the subway in Japan and how labyrinthine Shibuya Station could be.

However, the heavily modified subway system in Conan's world still managed to confuse him. He completely misjudged the time it would take, and by the time he found the Polo Cafe, it was already past two in the afternoon.

Logically, he still had to go to Teitan High School today to complete his enrollment procedures. If he delayed any longer, he might not even get dinner.

He silently mourned his faintly aching stomach for two seconds before Tang Ze pushed open the door to the Polo Cafe.

There were still two or three customers inside at the moment. Two servers were chatting with customers behind the long bar counter. Hearing the sound of the door opening, everyone turned to look at Tang Ze.

"!" Tang Ze's heart skipped a beat when he looked up and saw the two people.

The long-haired woman on the left was gentle and kind; she was likely Azusa Enomoto, the regular server at the cafe in the manga. The problem was, the man on the right had an incredibly recognizable face. A handsome guy with tanned skin and short blond hair – ten out of ten people who had watched Conan would immediately recognize him.

Why was Tooru Amuro here?!

Seeing Tang Ze standing frozen at the entrance after opening the door, looking completely bewildered, Azusa Enomoto examined him carefully, her gaze shifting from his school uniform to his unusual hair color and blue eyes.

"Ah!" She lightly tapped her palm with her right fist, her face lighting up with realization. "You must be the high school student the boss mentioned, right? Mr. Tang Ze Zhao."

Tang Ze snapped back to reality and reflexively bowed. "I'm sorry for my rudeness. It's nice to meet you. I'm Tang Ze Zhao, here to stay. I look forward to working with you."

His almost instinctive, standard greeting trio made Azusa Enomoto smile. He seemed a bit jumpy and nervous, like a shy, socially awkward person who wasn't good at interacting with others.

"He's quite cute, isn't he?" she whispered to Tooru Amuro, tilting her head.

Tooru Amuro was also observing Tang Ze closely. Upon hearing Azusa's comment, he put on a friendly smile and waved at Tang Ze. "No need to be nervous. The boss already informed us. My name is Tooru Amuro, and this is Azusa Enomoto. We're the staff here. Please take care of us."

Tang Ze looked at his sunny smile, silently adjusted his breathing to calm his racing heart after being startled, and returned Amuro's smile as he walked into the cafe.

Beneath his outwardly calm expression, his mind was in turmoil.

What was going on? Had the plot in Conan's world progressed this far already? By the time Tooru Amuro started working at the Polo Cafe, Shuichi Akai should have already become Subaru Okiya.

But he remembered seeing headlines like "High School Detective Shinichi Kudo Solves Another Bizarre Case" on the newspapers he'd glimpsed on the way. Shinichi Kudo was still active!

Then Tooru Amuro...

This wasn't good. His homestay life had been precarious from the very first day.

"We received your personal belongings yesterday and put them upstairs for you," Azusa Enomoto said, pointing to the wooden stairs behind the counter and instructing Tang Ze. "You can go up and settle in first. If you need any help, just ask us."

Assuming Tang Ze was a bit socially anxious, Azusa Enomoto, concerned he might get more nervous if the customers continued to stare, thoughtfully provided him with an excuse to leave.

"Thank you very much, but I was delayed too long on the way and won't make it in time for enrollment. Could I have the proof of residence first?" Tang Ze hesitated, unsure if Azusa and the others knew his identity, so he vaguely used the term "residence."

What he actually needed was a certificate of guardianship from a volunteer for his probationary period. Tang Ze Zhao was essentially a convict on probation, and he needed a volunteer to act as his temporary guardian and communicate with the school to provide proof that they would be responsible for his care and maintain regular contact. Only then would the high school be willing to accept a juvenile offender, a hot potato.

"Proof of residence?" Azusa Enomoto repeated, confused, seeming not to understand Tang Ze Zhao's situation.

Tooru Amuro, standing beside her, interjected, "Ah, proof of residence, right? Leave it to me. The boss explained it to me. You're transferring to Teitan High School, aren't you? It's not far from here. I can accompany you."

Tang Ze turned his head and met Tooru Amuro's purplish-gray eyes. Judging by the smile on his face, Tooru Amuro fully understood what he had just said.

Tang Ze glanced at the customers in the cafe and asked quietly, "It's still business hours, is that okay?"

"It's fine. I can manage on my own right now," Azusa Enomoto quickly nudged Tooru Amuro away from the counter. "Mr. Amuro, you should take him over quickly."

So, Tang Ze stood obediently to the side, waiting for Amuro to untie his barista apron, change into a jacket, and head out. He followed behind him obediently.

In reality, however, Tang Ze's hands, gripping his messenger bag, were digging into the fabric.

Good heavens, he exclaimed inwardly.

Azusa Enomoto might have thought Tang Ze just needed a document confirming his address, but Tang Ze knew very well that he needed a supervisor to liaise with the school; no one else could handle that.

So, it turned out his temporary guardian wasn't the mysterious cafe owner who had never shown his face, but Tooru Amuro!

Thinking this, Tang Ze, walking behind Tooru Amuro, lowered his head and stared intently at Amuro's shadow, afraid of revealing any unusual expression and being discovered by this sharp, disguised agent.

It's over. Shinichi Kudo hasn't been hit over the head yet, and here Tang Ze Zhao's connection to the Organization has already surfaced.

Yes, it's definitely the Organization.

Regardless of the true purpose behind this alias-within-an-alias, when he operates under the social persona of Tooru Amuro, it signifies that the surface-level motive for his actions must be as a Codename member of the Organization, Bourbon.

In the original plot, Tooru Amuro's reason for working at the Polo Cafe was also because Bourbon wanted to investigate the Mori Detective Agency.

And Bourbon wouldn't just randomly become a guardian for a high school student at a cafe. This meant that "Tang Ze Zhao" must have some connection to the Organization that had triggered Bourbon's cafe-working storyline prematurely.

"You seem very nervous, Tang Ze-kun?" Tooru Amuro suddenly turned back, looking at Tang Ze, whose head was bowed so low that only the top of his hair was visible.

"Y-yes, I'm sorry," Tang Ze continued to maintain his socially awkward persona, replying in a very small voice. He also lifted his head about 30 degrees, now staring at Tooru Amuro's cuffs.

Tang Ze's memories of the first decade or so of the original body's life were still very vague. Apart from a few fragmented memories that were more specific, he couldn't even remember his parents' names, let alone what kind of personality Tang Ze Zhao had.

Tooru Amuro definitely knew more than Tang Ze did now. Given this disguised agent's style, he wouldn't have approached Tang Ze Zhao so easily without digging up his entire family history.

Tang Ze decided to improvise based on his own understanding. After all, a kid who was wrongly accused of being a criminal, even if he used to be a social butterfly with excellent interpersonal skills, would naturally become withdrawn now, right?

Tooru Amuro still smiled, his tone relaxed and amiable. "It's okay, Tang Ze-kun. I understand your situation quite well. The boss is rarely in the country, so I'll be responsible for your guardianship for the next year."

He knew it would be like this.

Tang Ze fell silent for a moment, not following up on his topic. If he handed the initiative to Tooru Amuro, he feared they would get into a loop of probing questions. But guess what? I don't know as much as you do.

He changed the subject and asked, "So, Miss Enomoto, or anyone else in the cafe, also knows about this, right?"

Tang Ze spoke in a question but used a declarative tone, his dejected voice making Tooru Amuro's brow twitch.

Tooru Amuro, being a staunch member of the Red Faction at heart, generally felt more inclined to be considerate of sensitive teenagers. When Tang Ze displayed such a wounded demeanor, he naturally couldn't continue probing. Instead, he reassured him, "No, the boss only informed me. You can live here with peace of mind; we'll protect your privacy, so don't worry."

On their walk away from the cafe, Tang Ze had a whirlwind of thoughts and quickly decided on his next persona.

He began to act according to the character template he'd set, letting out a self-deprecating scoff. His voice was low and desolate as he directly addressed the topic Tooru Amuro had been trying to avoid: "That's right. If you knew the cafe was housing a juvenile offender convicted of grievous bodily harm, it would affect your reputation, wouldn't it? Business would be difficult."

Tooru Amuro's brow furrowed. "How could that be? Don't think that way, Tang Ze."

"I'll work hard not to make things difficult for anyone, please don't worry," Tang Ze continued to himself, his eyes downcast. Though his head was raised, his gaze was fixed very low, his long eyelashes obscuring his bright blue eyes. "I'll be good. As long as I stay for a year, I won't cause any trouble."

His utterly despondent, self-abandoning attitude indeed made Tooru Amuro unwilling to continue with the topic he'd initially intended to ask about. He shifted to discussing Tang Ze's future school, Teitan High School.

"Teitan High School is a well-known school in the city with a high college admission rate. Transferring there isn't a bad thing; it might even be more beneficial for your future studies," Tooru Amuro softened his tone. If he had sounded like he was talking to a middle schooler at first, he now sounded more like he was coaxing a young child. "The atmosphere among the students there is great; you can relax a bit."

Tang Ze finally raised his gaze, meeting Tooru Amuro's eyes for the first time during their walk.

His lips moved, seemingly disagreeing with Tooru Amuro's assessment, but in the end, he remained silent, merely pressing his lips together tightly.

Tang Ze's current thought was: Go ahead and fool outsiders.

Are there really places with a good social atmosphere in Beika Town?

Really? I don't believe it. Polite and civilized Beika Town, right.

Tang Ze had made this expression on the train before. When he forced the corners of his mouth up, his cheeks would puff out roundly, like lingering baby fat. Although he himself was very serious, others only found it cute.

Tang Ze wasn't intentionally trying to look younger; he just hadn't gotten used to this new face yet and didn't know how to use it well.

But Tooru Amuro couldn't help himself and reached out to ruffle his hair.

"Relax, there's nothing to worry about. Teitan High School is just over there, it's very close."

Following Tooru Amuro's direction, Tang Ze saw the carved school name "Teitan High School" across the street ahead.

...Speaking of which, the school Shujin High School, attended by the protagonist of P5, is a pun. 'Shujin' and 'Shujin' (prisoner) have the same pronunciation in Japanese, representing the protagonist's fated prisoner status in P5.

Teitan High School is also a pun. The pronunciation of 'Teitan' (帝丹) is 'teitan', which is 'tantei' (detective) with the order reversed.

...I can't escape puns in this life, can I?

While complaining internally, Tang Ze obediently followed behind Tooru Amuro into this famous otaku landmark.