After Tangze had enjoyed enough of the show and left the Kudo residence, his bag was stuffed with Professor Agasa's sponsored high-tech gadgets, Yusaku Kudo's signed new novel, and more. Best of all, his phone was full of videos of Conan being dragged around by Yukiko to cram acting lessons, tearfully calling her "big sister" in a sickeningly cutesy voice. It was a truly rewarding haul.
At Tangze's curious prompting, Yukiko Kudo demonstrated her near-magical disguise and voice-changing skills for him. He found it so satisfying to watch that he wanted to coax her into doing it again.
You there, Kaito Kid? Hurry up and send out your calling card. I'm definitely stealing your disguise skills!
After agreeing that Conan would be sent back to the Mori Detective Agency tomorrow under the pretense of boarding there, Tangze politely declined the dinner invitation. He left the rare family reunion to the Kudo family and walked back to the café.
It was dusk again. Tangze pulled his trench coat tighter and gazed at the crimson horizon, remembering evenings before he had crossed over. He turned his wheelchair wheels, rolling along the quiet neighborhood streets toward the scarlet sky and earth, and suddenly felt that dying at this moment would not be so bad.
The world was utterly quiet, like the ending of an old movie. He could simply walk into the blazing afterglow and flash up The End.
With that thought, Tangze took out his phone and opened the camera. He watched the sunset through the viewfinder and pressed the shutter.
The instant he tapped it, he suddenly noticed that the thumbnail of the most recent photo in the lower left corner of the gallery was an utterly unfamiliar image.
Tangze froze for a moment, then opened the gallery.
When he had first gotten this phone, Tangze had checked it over. There had been nothing left behind on it; it had been a brand-new, blank phone. It now contained only traces of his use. There should not have been anything he had never seen before.
After opening it, he discovered it was an attachment from an automatically downloaded email, yet there had been no notification of any new mail today... Tangze realized the problem was serious. He hurriedly kept his expression steady to avoid revealing his emotions, though his heart gave a sudden jolt.
The photo was a diagram. A bag had been drawn out with simple geometric shapes, and a spot on its handle had been circled in red.
The original owner had come from Kyoto, and all his personal belongings had already been taken from him. Even the clothes he wore had been changed into a school uniform in advance. The only thing that truly belonged to the original owner was the commuter bag he always carried in his hand.
At the time of the incident, the original owner had been on his way home from school. He had been arrested with this bag on his back. After changing into prison clothes, the bag and the clothes he had been wearing were locked in a cabinet, then returned to him after the case ended and he left prison.
The contents had surely been thoroughly searched and inspected. But since everything had happened so suddenly to Tangze, whoever planted it clearly had not expected him to casually carry an important item on him. In plain sight, as it were, everything in the bag had been replaced, but the bag itself had arrived in Tokyo with Tangze intact.
Without changing expression, Tangze tightened his grip on the bag. With a swipe of his thumb, he deleted and shredded the image from his gallery.
He guessed the original owner had probably not known either. Otherwise, such an image would not have appeared so abruptly only now.
"Are psychologists really like this? It's all prediction?" Tangze thought of the original owner's parents' professions and sighed softly.
If this really was a secret clue left for Tang Ze Zhao by his parents, then what condition would trigger this email... They likely would never be coming back...
Tangze ran his hand along the commuter bag's handle, discreetly feeling around the spot marked in the diagram. Between the several layers of stiff fabric folded into the strap, his fingertips distinctly felt a hard object—a square, chip-like thing about the size of his fingertip.
It was no more than a centimeter long or wide. Unless someone deliberately pressed on it, it would have gone unnoticed. Tangze had carried it for so long without realizing this thing was inside.
So this was what The Organization had been searching for.
Tangze narrowed his eyes slightly. His plan to create an Organization persona had originally been nothing more than a rough idea, a notion of turning passivity into initiative. Now, the other half of that possibility had been delivered right into his hands.
"I'll make good use of it." Sincerely wishing that their family could reunite in another world, Tangze pressed his palms together and quietly offered his thanks.
The next day, Conan returned along with a plump Yukiko Kudo and a ten-million-yen check.
She had given far too much, so naturally, the little brat officially moved into the Mori household.
Want to know the results of Yukiko's special training—
"Brother Tang Ze!" Edogawa Conan, beaming brightly and hugging a novel, rushed into the café. His voice was high and syrupy, cutesy to a horrifying degree, making Tangze want to cover his ears. "I came to read with you!"
The innocent little boy scampered past Tooru Amuro, who was delivering drinks. Tooru Amuro gently said, "Don't run in the shop. You might bump into something," then let the child pass without the slightest suspicion.
Very good. The results were remarkable. Tangze seriously suspected that the secret technique Sister Yukiko had taught was to grin idiotically, shout loudly, and be as nauseating as possible. It made his skin crawl.
But he still had to smile kindly as he caught Conan, who had buried his head in Tangze's arms. "Don't disturb the shop's business. I'll take you upstairs to read."
Ah, that hurt!
That headbutt hit Tangze squarely in his softest spot—his abdomen—making him feel as though his whole body had been jolted.
This little brat was definitely getting revenge. Damn it, all I did was record two embarrassing videos of you! He gritted his teeth inwardly while keeping up his smile, his facial muscles feeling stiff as he hurriedly led Conan up to the attic.
"That hurt like hell!" Tangze hissed through clenched teeth.
Conan leaned closer. "Are you deleting the videos or not?"
Tangze discreetly rubbed his stomach. "Nope. I'm making two backups, and I'll send them to Ran later."
Conan was not about to be threatened by him. The videos did not reveal his relationship with Yukiko Kudo, but just the fact that they had been filmed at the Kudo residence was suspicious enough. Tangze could laugh at him with the videos all he wanted, but he would not joke around with Conan's safety.
So Conan grinned smugly, showing all eight of his teeth.
How could Tangze not see through his little trick? With a sinister smile, he took out his phone and opened an audio clip he had specially cut out.
"Beep—Big~ sis~ter~ hi~"
Conan's expression twisted instantly.
Tangze tapped play again.
"Beep—Big~ sis~ter~ hi~"
You think you're safe just because the video can't be sent out? How naive!
Tangze raised his hand high, using his sheer height advantage to stop the furious Conan from destroying the evidence. He happily thought that once a certain bottle of Lao Gan Ma showed up, this precious recording might prove even more useful.
"Stop, don't play it anymore! I was wrong! I was wrong!" Conan, foiled once again, finally settled down and raised his hands in surrender. He plopped down on the edge of Tangze's bed and muttered, "I knew Ran had completely misjudged you. You're awful."
Tangze grinned, showing all eight teeth. "Still want to read, Conan?"
"Hmph." Conan turned his head away unhappily. After a moment of silence, he said quietly, "Thanks."
"Hm?" Tangze blinked in confusion.
"I mean, thanks for yesterday." Conan said it awkwardly. "Even though it turned out to be a false alarm, still... thanks."
After learning some peripheral information about The Organization from his father yesterday, Conan understood more and more what Tangze's unhesitating decision to step forward had meant. If they had been facing genuine Organization members, Tangze's actions yesterday would have been no different from a moth flying into a flame.
He had already paid such a heavy price for standing up for justice once, to the point that he had nearly lost his life... Seriously.
"Though I have no idea what you're getting all moved about on your own over, you're welcome." Tangze smiled and ruffled Conan's hair into a fluffy mess.
That smile was like an old farmer stroking an ear of corn, full of fatherly affection.
Keep it up, little detective. Level up faster, give me some skill drops, assistance buffs, anything—the more the better!
Just a light day-of-daily-life transition (òó) There was even a random tip! Thank you, generous reader!
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