Conan, having escaped from the car, racked his brain, trying to figure out where he should run.
He couldn't go back to the Mori Detective Agency. Ran and Uncle Mori hadn't grown suspicious of his identity, which was a good thing. That organization might not pay attention to the two of them.
With his identity exposed, he had to return home and find Professor Agasa. He needed to figure out that organization's objective somehow. Everyone who had come into contact with him was in danger; he had to warn them all to be careful...
Just as he thought that, a hand suddenly reached out from the alley beside him, grabbed the small elementary schooler around the waist, and dragged him into the alley.
Conan shuddered in terror, then discovered that the pair of azure eyes right in front of him belonged to Tangze.
"Shh." Tangze covered his mouth, pulled him against the wall, and before long, Yukiko Kudo ran past them in a furious panic. She had clearly been chasing Conan all the way here.
Once she had hurried off into the distance, Tangze finally released Conan and said in a low voice, "Are you an idiot? Can an eight-year-old's legs outrun an adult's? Seriously, why didn't you contact me?"
Conan watched the plump woman pass by, his heart pounding wildly. If Tangze hadn't appeared, she would definitely have caught up with him after he crossed this street. Worse, he might have unconsciously led his pursuer to Professor Agasa's house, and then even the Professor would...
Conan said hoarsely, "I can't drag you into this, Tangze."
He still knew nothing about this underground organization's scale, purpose, or methods. Recklessly involving Tangze, who had no one to rely on in Tokyo, would be selfish. So even though he knew Tangze had been following behind them, Conan hadn't chosen to meet up with him immediately.
"What kind of tragic hero act are you putting on, Great Detective?" Tangze smacked his forehead. "I don't know what the people who took you away were planning, but they're your enemies, right? Are you going to deal with them in your current body?"
Conan shook his head and said through gritted teeth, "My enemies are most likely a powerful underground organization. A drug they made turned me into a child. I still know nothing about them. Dragging you into this would only be more dangerous."
"From the moment you discovered my identity, I was already involved, Kudo." Tangze crouched down and met Conan's gaze, bright light flickering in his eyes like two azure flames in the dark alley. "Instead of worrying ourselves sick here, why not take the initiative? You were exposed to them, but now they've exposed themselves to you too. This is a perfect opportunity..."
"What kind of organization is this? How many people know your identity? Is there still time to intercept the information... It's not time to despair yet. Pull yourself together."
In the narrow alley, only a few beams of sunlight shone through the apartment windows onto them, but it was enough for Conan to see Tangze's fearless face clearly. His heart, which had been pounding violently with fear, slowly calmed down.
That was right. It wasn't time to despair yet.
Conan's thoughts took a turn as he began considering how to strike back. He slowly said, "Tangze, I have a plan..."
Although Tangze was saying something straight out of a shonen manga, what burned in his eyes was definitely not positive energy like fighting spirit or determination. It was the eager desire to stir things up and cause trouble.
Even if he helped Conan successfully bag Yusaku Kudo and Yukiko Kudo, that was still out of a righteous partner's sense of justice. It wouldn't hurt his image at all, and it was pretty fun too!
What bad intentions could Tangze possibly have? He just wanted to help a righteous detective being persecuted by an organization.
Didn't the Kudo couple want to teach their son a lesson, make him understand the organization's danger, and dampen his hot-blooded spirit? Then bring it on. Let the storm rage even harder.
Yukiko Kudo, or rather, Yukiko Kudo disguised as Edogawa Fumiyo, hadn't noticed at all that her son had vanished. She had originally been heading straight for her own house.
She knew that brat of hers very well. In a crisis like this, the only people he would choose to seek help from were those who knew his true identity. Instinctively, he would also want to return to familiar surroundings where he felt safer. So the fleeing Shinichi could only have gone home, and perhaps sought help from Professor Agasa next door.
As long as she found the area, it would be easy to ambush that brat. One rag soaked in anesthetic over his face, and she could take him away for the next step.
Unaware that in just a few days, Tangze had become an unexpected new variable among the people who knew Shinichi's identity, Yukiko Kudo continued carrying out the plan with complete confidence.
"She showed up." Tangze lowered the binoculars in his hand from his hiding place on the second floor of Kudo Residence.
He had brought Conan in from the block on the other side, climbed over the back wall, and entered the Kudo residence's backyard without letting anyone spot them.
"They really investigated my situation." Conan's mood was heavy, because he truly would have come home to seek Professor Agasa's help. They had predicted his movements with remarkable accuracy.
"Isn't that obvious? Shinichi Kudo isn't some nobody." Tangze flexed his fists, looking fully prepared for a fight. "Now that their prediction has failed, the initiative is back in our hands. Can you hear anything through your bugs?"
Conan took out his phone and activated the monitoring program. From several listening devices Tangze had helped him place around the entrance came the sound of high heels.
After circling the area several times, the woman seemed to grow agitated. She kept pacing in front of Kudo Residence. After waiting another ten or so minutes, she indeed took out her phone and started contacting someone, just as Conan had expected.
"She has an accomplice."
"You guessed that earlier, didn't you? If she were alone, why would she say she was going to 'take you somewhere'?"
The two boys crouched there, exchanging opinions as they listened closely to the sounds coming from the program. The bug attached near the utility pole by the entrance clearly picked up the beeping dial tone. The woman seemed to have leaned against the pole as she made her call.
"'Hello, it's me,'" the woman said after the call connected. "'Something went wrong. That kid got away.'"
"'He's just an elementary schooler now. Where could he run?'" A magnetic male voice came from the other end. Conan found it oddly familiar, but before he could figure out where that sense of familiarity came from, the conversation immediately caught his attention. "'He couldn't have gone back to the Mori residence. Other than his own home, he has nowhere to hide. You lost him?'"
"'I couldn't find him here. Something may have happened.'" The woman's voice sounded anxious, and the sound of her high heels rang out again as if she were pacing in circles. "'Where else could he have gone?'"
"'Let me think.'"
Looking at Conan's grave, steady expression, Tangze understood that the people on the phone weren't criminals discussing a plan, but anxious parents who had carelessly lost their son. Watching both sides try to outwit the air, Tangze hurriedly pressed his lips together so he wouldn't accidentally laugh.
The Kudos were so entertaining.
Conan jabbed Tangze, who for some reason had gone completely still, with his elbow and reminded him in a low voice, "It's time for the next step."
(●-●) Sorry, I fell asleep this afternoon! Please wait for the next chapter!
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