Conan, Look, It's Your Mom

Three cases in two days—perhaps they had temporarily exhausted the quota for incidents. For the next few days, Tangze went quietly to school, grew more familiar with Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki, and finally enjoyed a few days of normal high school life without any cases.

Incidentally, the little card he had tossed to Kazuo Ohara earlier was one of dozens of templates Tangze had made, like ads slipped through door cracks.

Considering Beika Town's citizens were far too simple and honest, with Palaces, cases, and potential criminals lurking everywhere, Tangze had prepared several approaches. If there was a Palace, enough time, and he felt motivated to intervene, he would make a grand spectacle of sending out customized calling cards, building the Phantom Thieves of Hearts' reputation and style. If a case could not be stopped in time, or Tangze did not want to stop it—cases where he ran straight into a corpse—then he would blend into the detective camp as a background character and get in touch with as many newly introduced Red Faction members as possible.

And if it was a case like a truck crashing into a store, where the crime was attempted or completed but the victim did not deserve to die, then he would try his best to save them and use a warning letter from the Phantom Thief of Hearts to persuade them to turn over a new leaf.

Never mind whether it counted as persuasion. The point was, did they turn over a new leaf or not?

So far, all the plans in those directions had been working well. By thoroughly stripping Conan bare—scratch that, stripping off his disguise—Tangze had successfully tied this identity closely to the Red Faction. Now he only had to wait for the various characters to take the stage. He still had plenty of empty Tarot slots; everyone could be his wings!

Peaceful days never lasted long in Conan's world.

After half a day of school, Tangze learned that they would have three consecutive days off starting that afternoon, and he had a feeling it was coming.

Sure enough, after returning to the café for lunch, Tangze was doing homework by the window when he casually looked up and saw the Mouri father and daughter leading Conan downstairs. With them was a plump woman dressed in a black formal suit.

She opened the back door of a small Beetle and stuffed Conan inside without allowing him a word.

After shutting the door, the woman politely bowed to the two of them. "Thank you for taking care of Conan these past days. We will definitely come by again another day to express our gratitude..."

Ran Mouri smiled and waved at Conan in the car. "Make sure to email us often once you're in America, Conan!"

Inside the car, Conan had straightened up, looking anything but willing. He slapped and pounded the window, his face turning red with panic.

Ah... another very familiar episode. The Kudos had arrived...

Disguised as "Yukiko Kudo," Yukiko Kudo showed no trace of makeup or disguise no matter how hard Tangze stared. He reasonably suspected that disguises in Conan's world were actually magic masquerading as stagecraft. This was far too ridiculous.

Later on, disguises could never be separated from the main plot's battles of wits. The Black Organization had a disguise expert, the Red Faction had a disguise expert; you disguised yourself, I disguised myself, and at critical moments it became a face-ripping contest where everyone in the room could tear off their face...

If he got the chance, he definitely had to get this skill and try it out. He wondered whether Yukiko Kudo had a Tarot card. This couple spent all their time overseas and did not have much screen time, so it seemed unlikely. Still, Tangze had not placed his hopes on her in the first place. More of his preparations were reserved for Kaito Kid, who would appear in the future.

Today was an opportunity to make contact, so Tangze naturally had to give it a try.

Thus, as the helpless Conan pressed himself against the car window like a specimen pinned inside a display case, desperately mouthing words, he suddenly sensed someone looking at him. Through the oblivious Mouri father and daughter, he met Tangze's shocked, worried gaze.

This neighbor, the only one who knew his identity, had noticed at just the right time. Yes! Come out! Tangze, go! Conan looked at Tangze and hammered the car window with all his strength.

...It did not budge. So how exactly had Tangze smashed a car window with his bare fist?

"Mr. Mori, Mouri." Tangze unhesitatingly dropped his homework, stood up, and walked out of the café toward the three people making small talk. "And this is?"

"This is Conan's mother! Ms. Yukiko Kudo!" Ran Mouri was delighted that Conan would soon be reunited with his family. As she introduced her, she added, "She came to take Conan to America!"

Tangze considered this for a moment, then warily watched "Yukiko Kudo" as he walked toward the back seat where Conan was. He naturally reached out, grabbed the handle, and pulled hard. "Leaving already? Get out and say goodbye to your big brother. You haven't finished the book I lent you yet, have you?"

Unfortunately, Yukiko Kudo had activated the child locks on several doors the moment Conan got in, making it impossible to open them. Tangze therefore looked at her as though asking for permission.

"I'm sorry. Under normal circumstances, I would be happy to chat with all of you, and I still need to thank Mr. Mori for looking after my son these past days," Yukiko Kudo said, checking her watch. "But our flight leaves in only four hours, so we are rather pressed for time. I hope you understand."

She gave Tangze a subtle once-over, bowed again, got into the driver's seat, and started the car.

Tangze frowned deeply. Seeing the car pull away, the Mouri father and daughter turned to head home as well. When they saw Tangze standing there without moving, they kindly tried to comfort him. "You really like children, huh? Ha ha, that little brat gets on my nerves every time I see him. Conan is better off with his parents, after all."

Conan moved from the side window to the rear windshield and saw Tangze clench his fists, wearing a resolute expression as his blue eyes stared firmly at him.

Then Tangze actually pushed off the ground and started chasing after the car on foot.

Conan hurriedly pulled back and began talking to the strange woman, trying to divert her attention so she would not notice Tangze. "Who are you, really?!"

Yukiko Kudo pushed up her glasses, letting the glare conceal her eyes as she said mysteriously, "I'm your mother, Nan-chan."

"You're not! My mother, she..."

Yukiko Kudo cut Conan off directly. "...is a Kudo. Yukiko Kudo, right?"

With his true identity exposed in a single sentence, Conan's expression changed drastically. Yukiko Kudo, however, recited the details as though she knew them by heart. "A genius actress who became famous both domestically and abroad at nineteen. At nineteen, she had already won several prestigious awards. With her superb acting and peerless beauty, she became a sensation for a time. Later, after falling in love with the novelist Yusaku Kudo, she retired at the height of her career, left show business to start a family, and the two have lived overseas for many years. They have one son, who is..."

"...you, Shinichi Kudo."

Conan completely lost his composure. For the moment, he could not even process how strange this self-congratulatory introduction, stuffed full of praise, was. All he could think was, Could this person be an accomplice of the men in black who knocked me out?!

Yukiko Kudo pulled a small lady's pistol from her pocket. The loaded handgun was held steadily against Conan's forehead as she said in a sinister tone, "Don't even think about running, brat. Bullets don't have eyes. Be good and come somewhere with me..."

How could he possibly surrender without a fight? Thinking of what Tangze had done a few days ago, Conan gritted his teeth. As the car passed through an intersection, he stretched out his foot and stomped hard on the pedal beneath Yukiko Kudo's foot!

The small Beetle lurched into traffic under that sudden burst of acceleration. Yukiko Kudo quickly slammed on the brakes, preventing the possibility of a chain collision.

Taking advantage of the moment, Conan unlocked the car door, flung it open, and dashed outside.