That evening, as Tangze sat by his bed with a notebook full of names, he suddenly felt like a killer going through a hit list when he crossed out "Edogawa Conan."
It was weird, but kind of cool. Tangze struck a pose with the notebook for a while before stuffing it into his inventory.
He couldn't leave something full of spoilers lying around. What if Tooru Amuro found it, flipped it open, and went, "Wow! Furuya Rei!" Then Tangze really wouldn't be able to explain himself.
"That's the second coop. Though I have no idea why Conan sneakily gave me Aura of Concealment," Tangze muttered as he hugged the comforter and wrapped himself up in it. "Still, it's better than nothing. Maybe I can use this skill to speedrun Palaces. That's not bad either."
After rolling himself into a bundle, Tangze closed his eyes and swiftly fell asleep, waking in the blue-hued bar.
"Welcome." As usual, Lavenza stood behind the counter polishing a glass. The difference today was that he seemed slightly warmer than before; at least he nodded to Tangze with a smile.
Once they had grown familiar with each other, Lavenza usually acted like an aloof, irritating friend. He was rarely as polite as he had been on the first day.
"You're in a pretty good mood today. Something nice happen?" Tangze settled into his usual seat, quickly noticing the difference. "Hm? You've got new stock!"
Originally, the liquor cabinet behind Lavenza had contained only a few bottles of Bourbon. Though they were inexhaustible and respawned after being taken, there had always been just those few bottles on display. Now, several more bottles had appeared on the first shelf. Tangze didn't even need to read the labels carefully to know what they were.
Whiskey!
It could only be this liquor. Although he hadn't formally met him, Tangze had caught a distant glimpse of Shuichi Akai today. He hadn't expected that to count as unlocking an achievement, and the surprise pleased him.
"So it counts as long as I see them? It doesn't matter if we don't know each other?" Tangze picked up the glass of Whiskey Lavenza had poured for him and took a sip. "That's pretty good..."
Unlike the smooth, rich Bourbon, the intense Whiskey, almost harsh enough to sting his throat, felt fittingly fresh to Tangze. He wondered whether Lavenza would be able to mix cocktails once there was more liquor...
If the requirements for unlocking The Organization's menu were this broad, then he had some ideas! Quite a few Organization code-name members died quickly, after all. He didn't have much time to check them in.
"After all, if Easter eggs are too hard to find, they stop being fun." Lavenza shrugged and began pouring himself a drink as well.
"So the person I met today really was Shuichi Akai, and he used to be Whiskey. Looks like the plot has changed somewhat..." Tangze swirled his glass as his thoughts drifted. "I wonder what ability Shuichi Akai will give me..."
Oh, if he gave me sniping outright, wouldn't that be nice!
Tangze happily began planning out new strategies. Dreams really did have everything!
Tangze woke smiling the next day.
Thankfully, Tooru Amuro hadn't installed surveillance in his room. Otherwise, Tangze waking up today with such a glowing face and such a strange smile would have been enough for Tooru Amuro to drag him off to psychiatry for an examination. It was downright creepy.
Having cultivated good habits, Tangze picked up his phone and checked the calendar before getting out of bed.
Good. It was a day off.
This alternating day-on, day-off high school life would make even the kids next door cry with envy.
Tangze lazily hugged his blanket, rolled over, and prepared to go back to sleep for a little while.
He understood the logic: while his consciousness had been in the bar, his body had still gotten enough rest. Yet mentally, he always felt hollow, as if he hadn't slept long enough. He felt he ought to sleep a little more properly, or else it always felt as though he had pulled an all-nighter.
Just as he closed his eyes, his phone began chiming. He had a new email.
"Hm?" Tangze opened one eye and glanced at his phone, unfamiliar with the notification sound.
After all, the contacts he had added since arriving in Tokyo saw him often enough that they rarely exchanged messages. Tangze turned on the phone beside his pillow again.
"Help!!! Come quick!!!" The barrage of exclamation marks practically shouted at Tangze's eyes when he opened the email. Then he saw the sender: "Edogawa Conan."
"Good grief..." Tangze covered his eyes with one hand, inexplicably feeling cheated.
Hadn't they just made a deal yesterday? Why was there not even a little buildup before he had to start working on the very next day? No skill came free...
Though he grumbled inwardly, Tangze still honestly got up and changed clothes.
Since Conan hadn't included a location, he must have meant the detective agency upstairs. There was obviously no way Conan had gotten into trouble inside the agency itself, so he probably needed Tangze to help him handle something.
Resigned to his fate, Tangze took out the golden fan from Maru Denjirou, put it in a box, and used it as an excuse to tell Azusa Enomoto that he was going upstairs to deliver a thank-you gift. Then he left the café and headed upstairs.
The Mori Detective Agency was on the second floor, while the Mori father and daughter, along with Conan, lived in the residence on the third. It was still early, and the agency was not yet open. A cute-looking girl stood in the stairwell, hesitantly holding a bag outside the agency door.
Tangze looked up the stairs and saw Conan standing on the steps between the second and third floors, furtively peeking over the handrail with one eye exposed. He stared stiffly at the girl without moving, only finally seeming relieved when he saw Tangze downstairs and running over.
"Please find a way to lure her away," Conan whispered urgently as he approached Tangze, his tone brimming with the desperate plea of "save my life." "Uncle Mori will be coming down to open the door in ten minutes!"
Then Conan turned around, flashed a brilliant smile, and said to the girl in a child's innocent voice, "Big sister, this is the big brother I told you about! He's amazing, just as amazing as Shinichi! He's Shinichi's good friend too! He definitely knows where you can find him!"
The girl, who had already been wavering over whether to enter the agency, brightened at once. She hurried down the stairs, took a photograph from her bag, and handed it to Tangze. "This is the person I'm looking for—Shinichi Kudo... You know Shinichi Kudo, right?"
"Yes, we're classmates. May I ask why you're looking for Kudo...?" Tangze took the photograph. It showed Shinichi Kudo in his Teitan High School uniform, walking amid the crowd after school and looking at the camera with mild surprise, as though startled that someone had snapped his picture.
Tangze raised his brows and immediately made the connection. He felt like he knew which case this was... As he thought, he glanced at Conan, who was staring at the girl as though facing a great enemy, and understood why he had called for help.
"I'm looking for him. He suddenly disappeared. I can't reach him, and he hasn't been coming to school either. I don't know what to do..." The girl nervously pinched the hem of her pleated skirt, lowering her head and not daring to look at Tangze. "I want to see him. I-I'm his girlfriend!"
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