Teitan High School looked like a perfectly ordinary standard Japanese high school.
Of course, Tangze did not actually know much about Japanese high schools, but as long as no big-nosed PE teacher popped out and jumped in his face to give him a little Persona 5 plot shock, it counted as an ordinary high school in his eyes.
Today was a day off, so there were no students wandering around campus. It was very quiet.
Tangze took the black folder from his bag and handed the documents inside to Tooru Amuro one by one. Amuro led him from office to office to write applications, bow, write applications, get stamps, bow, and write applications.
Because Tang Ze Zhao's situation was unusual, he was more troublesome to process than an ordinary transfer student. After all, his previous student registration had vanished along with his expulsion. There was one form after another, and filling out documents alone took over an hour.
The good news was that he now barely knew some details about the original owner's family, because some of the application materials had been filled in beforehand.
Tang Ze Zhao's father was Tang Ze Yichuan, and his mother was Tang Ze Leona. As expected, he was mixed-race.
His home was in Kyoto—he had known that already. Tangze had found a JR ticket stub from Kyoto to Tokyo in his bag. He was eighteen years old and had originally attended Senshin High School in Kyoto.
...It sounded a little familiar, but whatever. He already lived downstairs from Conan, and Tooru Amuro had become his guardian. What more ridiculous buffs could there be? He was rather curious to find out.
Only when he saw his parents' names did images of the couple flash through Tangze's mind.
Though he still had no memories of how the original owner had gotten along with his parents, he did recall that the Tang Ze couple were scholars living abroad. Tang Ze Zhao had been left in Japan to attend school, and since they spent little time together, he had never been close to them.
Even when Tang Ze Zhao got entangled in a criminal lawsuit, his parents had not returned to handle it. They had merely hired a lawyer and granted him full authority to act on their behalf. The original owner had been convicted without any room to resist amid a setup orchestrated by a group of unfamiliar adults.
...That was seriously ridiculous.
After signing the last document, Tangze held the thin sheets of paper and stared at his parents' names on the form, feeling rather emotional.
Looking back from his perspective, there had not been any meticulous conspiracy behind the original owner's framing. It had simply been a crude round of coordinated testimony and forged physical evidence, and the case was done.
There truly had been no need for elaborate methods. The only guardians on his side had never shown up from beginning to end. A minor with no channel to speak out and no means of seeking help—even laws protecting minors' privacy had instead become the best shield for blocking the public's view. It was simply too easy to mold a high school student however they pleased.
Considering that The Organization might also have been involved, the truth became even harder to determine. It was difficult to say where the Tang Ze couple were now, or whether they were even alive.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem with the forms?" As soon as they left the principal's office, Tooru Amuro saw Tangze standing there in a daze with the papers in his hands and came over to inspect the form.
"It's nothing. I've filled everything out." Tangze professionally maintained his persona, his face full of worries that clearly said there was something wrong, yet he answered with feigned calm. "I've really troubled you, making you run around for my sake for so long."
Tooru Amuro took the thick stack of documents from his hands and smiled unconcernedly. "Since I agreed to the request, this is what a guardian should do. No need to be polite."
"What a guardian should do...?" Tangze muttered softly.
Tooru Amuro naturally heard his quiet remark. He quickly scanned the form on top and immediately saw the family relations section at the beginning.
Having already accepted Tangze's persona of "abandoned by family and society, shut off from the world, and perhaps a little darkened," Tooru Amuro accurately received the message Tangze was trying to convey.
Poor Tang Ze Zhao. Knowing the full story, Tooru Amuro sighed silently.
Poor Tang Ze Zhao. Not knowing the full story, Tangze sighed as well.
The two layers of dolls reached an unspoken understanding, then left the school in a pleasant atmosphere.
"This is the key to the cafe, and this one is for the attic. The cafe will be open most of the time, so remember to lock the attic when you go out. Stay safe." By the time they returned to the cafe, it was nearly closing time. After tidying up and preparing to close, Tooru Amuro took out two keys and handed them to Tangze, briefly explaining the cafe's arrangements.
Tangze had initially listened seriously, but as he listened, he could not help drifting off.
That was because two figures, one tall and one short, were approaching from across the street, their shadows stretched long in the dusk.
The taller one was a slender girl with delicate features and waist-length black hair. The shorter one was... a little boy wearing a blue suit jacket, a bow tie, and huge glasses.
The two walked toward them hand in hand, passed Tangze and Tooru Amuro, then turned toward the stairs beside Polo Cafe.
...That confirmed it.
So Tangze corrected his previous assumption.
It was not that The Organization had surfaced on Tang Ze Zhao's side before Shinichi Kudo got knocked out.
Rather, Shinichi Kudo was getting knocked out while The Organization was surfacing on Tang Ze Zhao's side.
So today was the starting point of Conan's plot, huh? When Tangze had woken up on the train, Shinichi Kudo had probably just entered Tropical Land.
Only after catching a glimpse of the two heading upstairs from the corner of his eye did Tangze refocus and take the keys Tooru Amuro handed him.
"You should go upstairs and sort out your things first. Get some proper rest." Seeing Tangze lower his head and fiddle with the two keys, apparently looking for somewhere to string them together, Tooru Amuro again wanted to reach out and ruffle his soft, fine hair.
Tangze swiftly dodged.
What was with Bourbon? He could act all he wanted, but could he stop touching people's heads all the time?
Tooru Amuro froze when Tangze avoided him, then studied him with interest. "Quick reactions."
Tangze really wanted to use some classic line about head pats making people stop growing taller, but after thinking about it, it did not fit the persona he had just established. He held it back and turned to walk into the cafe. "Then I'll go rest first."
"Get some good rest. See you tomorrow, Tangze." As he watched Tangze slowly head upstairs, Tooru Amuro's smile gradually faded.
He turned toward his car and took out his phone to compose an email.
Contact with the target has been made according to plan. No documents mentioned in the intelligence report were found among the target's personal belongings or luggage. Should the plan proceed as scheduled?
After sending it, he opened another hidden encrypted email interface and composed a second message.
Has there been any feedback from Kyoto? How much has been uncovered regarding the details of Tang Ze Zhao's case?
After checking the vehicle and making sure there were no listening or transmitting devices, Tooru Amuro finally opened the door of the Mazda RX7 and sat in the driver's seat.
He started the car, waited for replies from both sides, and stared at the now-dark Polo Cafe.
The pitch-black cafe had only a faint warm yellow light seeping from the stairs behind the counter. Tang Ze Zhao had probably shut the door upstairs tightly, making it difficult to see what he was doing.
Tang Ze Zhao, a special high school juvenile offender.
A juvenile offender convicted of grievous bodily harm was already rare. Such a sentence for a minor generally meant a violent felony, and one severe enough in nature and circumstances.
Yet despite the grievous bodily harm charge, he had been given a protective observation disposition and transferred from Kansai to Tokyo to serve the observation period. Had the judgment and handling of the entire case truly been compliant?
And he was also a target watched by The Organization. How much of that ruling had been the result of The Organization's interference?
Damn it. Had the police and the Prosecution Department really been infiltrated so severely?
As he silently organized the information he had gathered in a foul mood, replies arrived from both sides.
The plan remains unchanged. Maintain contact and observation, and gain the target's trust as soon as possible. He is the only person who may know where the documents went. Pay attention to his interpersonal relationships. The target is under observation from multiple parties. Unless you are certain you can avoid alerting the police, do not use interrogation methods lightly.
There is no new information from the Kyoto Metropolitan Police Department. The supervising police officer and prosecutor were recorded as Ishiki Ichiro and Sato Ken of Kyoto's First Investigation Division, but both parties deny ever participating in the case. Mr. Furuya, Tang Ze Zhao himself remains the biggest lead at present.
After reading both emails, Tooru Amuro shook his head and deleted them one by one.
"What a troublesome guy. How did a student get himself involved in such huge trouble?" Tooru Amuro assembled the information in his mind, finding it harder to understand the more he thought about it. "Why exactly is The Organization watching him?"
But this was also an opportunity he could not afford to miss.
What did The Organization want from him, and what exactly were those documents? This was a good opportunity to find a weakness and uncover The Organization's true purpose and arrangements.
"Let's hope we both have good luck, Tangze." Tooru Amuro sighed, then slammed on the accelerator and shot off.
The undercover agent working three jobs now had to return home and keep working overtime.
Before you continue