Onion Man's Tricks

Ran Mouri walked past the Polo Cafe carrying several shopping bags, leading the strangely named little boy by the hand. The sight made Tooru Amuro frown.

Tangze had said that morning he was taking the kid upstairs out to have fun. Why had this child returned first with the girl upstairs? Where was Tangze?

This child was strange too. Tangze did not seem like the type to get close to people. Even though he often walked home from school with Ran Mouri, he kept an appropriate social distance from her. Amuro had never seen him take the initiative to seek her out, especially considering that Ran Mouri was such an exceptionally pretty girl.

Tangze did not resemble an adolescent boy at all. He showed no special favor toward a beautiful girl like Ran Mouri, nor did he display teenage traits such as impatience, restlessness, or a love of showing off. Tooru Amuro guessed that this was related to Tangze's unusual family background, or perhaps his identity as a juvenile offender had suppressed his natural temperament.

Until the child named Edogawa Conan appeared.

When Tangze had rushed out without even putting things away because he was worried about Conan's whereabouts, even chasing the car as it sped away, Amuro's astonishment had been plain to see.

For some inexplicable reason, Tangze had quickly become close with this elementary school student, and their exchanges had grown increasingly frequent. That morning, a single phone call had summoned him out. A high school student had formed a friendship with an elementary schooler, and Tangze even displayed a rare relaxed manner when talking with Conan. Amuro found it baffling, and somewhat worrying.

Bourbon naturally would not report such an anomaly, but he was not the only observer The Organization had assigned.

Over the past few days, something seemed to have changed within The Organization. Its orders had become increasingly urgent, and the importance of the materials held by the Tang Ze couple seemed to have risen once more. The inconsequential surveillance reports he had submitted were no longer enough to satisfy them. Whether they would resort to more extreme measures remained unknown.

If The Organization ultimately failed to find what it wanted from Tangze, Edogawa Conan, as the person closest to Tangze these past few days, would very likely become its next target.

Tangze had gone out with him several times. Rye's report might already be sitting on Rum's desk...

Hopefully, things would not head in the worst possible direction.

Tangze's case had exposed the unreliability within the Public Security Bureau. For the time being, he could not make arrangements to move Tangze somewhere safe. The Organization's operations were escalating. When that time came, this child's fate...

The curve of Amuro's professional smile was flawless, concealing the unease in his heart.

He had already learned deeply what one could lose as an undercover agent. Yet every time he had to witness evil unfold, or even create it with his own hands, crushing negative emotions still swallowed him whole again and again.

At least this time, he would do everything he could to pull this child—dragged into the mire by the blind spots of the judicial system and the dark side of power and money—out of the abyss.

"Tang Ze, you're back." Hearing the bell at the entrance ring, Azusa Enomoto looked up, saw Tangze, and greeted him with a smile.

After spending these past few days with him, she had grown rather fond of the boy. He was neither noisy nor troublesome, considerate in all he did, gentle and quiet enough to make one's heart ache. After all, a child's maturity was often forged through hardship.

"Miss Enomoto, Mr. Amuro, I'm back."

Tangze still spoke politely, just as he always did, but Tooru Amuro sensed his low mood and turned to study him.

Tangze truly was not in high spirits.

Shuichi Akai had hit him with a massive plot twist out of nowhere. Even after walking all the way back, he still had not managed to process it.

This patchwork-monster world had really screwed him over!

Not only had he been shoved into the deluxe Sera family bundle, he was not even as useful as Shiho Miyano.

Shiho Miyano was a genius researcher. Tang Ze Zhao was, at best, a hostage used to control the Tang Ze couple. Now that his parents were dead, this hostage still held crucial inheritance in his hands. He was basically a piggy bank waiting to be smashed.

Moreover, he had learned from Shuichi Akai that because his parents had recognized and concealed Akai's identity early on, Akai knew all about the relationship among the Miyano, Akai, and Tang Ze families. In this world, Shuichi Akai had not entered The Organization through his collision-scam specialty and some incestuous romance. He had been introduced by Tangze's parents.

Shuichi Akai's familial connection to Tangze had not yet been exposed—otherwise, he would not have been assigned to the surveillance mission—but the fact that he had entered The Organization on the Tang Ze couple's recommendation made him someone who would be closely watched. As long as he still wanted Gin dead, he was a massive landmine.

The Tang Ze couple's deaths were an already lit fuse. When it would explode over Tangze's head depended entirely on how long the fuse was. Sooner or later, it would reach him.

The situation was bad.

Hopefully, Shuichi Akai, that little expert at getting relatives killed, would move a little slower. With the ability of his useless teammates, catching Gin was nothing more than a pipe dream.

One thought came to him. It might not be right, but Shuichi Akai coming to see him might mean he had already started making arrangements for after his death—no, preparing a way out. Otherwise, after ambushing Gin, he would have no chance to get Tangze out.

Could he be... preparing to make his move?

Tangze quietly looked at Tooru Amuro.

Furuya-san, save me!

"Hm? What is it?" Amuro met his gaze, not understanding.

Go make Rye stop! It's useless teammates everywhere! Akemi Miyano, Shiho Miyano, and I are all grasshoppers tied to the same rope. Once Shuichi Akai's bomb goes off, we're all done for!

But Tangze merely said, "Nothing."

The priority of Tangze's Organization-cover plan had risen once again. He needed to lay some groundwork for what he was about to do.

He briefly organized the information he currently had and decided to first plant a few hints on Tooru Amuro's side, so that this sharp undercover agent would not be alerted to his unusual movements too early and introduce variables into the plan.

First, he needed to make use of an undercover agent's need for intelligence, as well as the good heart of the Public Security Bureau. For instance... Shuichi Akai knew about his parents' deaths. There was no reason Tooru Amuro would not know.

"Mr. Amuro, can you contact the owner of this cafe?" Tangze asked softly, maintaining his dejected demeanor. "My parents arranged for me to stay here. They should have contacted him, right?"

Of course he could contact him, but contacting him would be useless, because his stay had not been arranged by them at all. Amuro asked in confusion, "Why do you suddenly want to find the owner? He isn't in the country right now, and I don't know when he'll reply..."

Tangze gave an "Oh" and lowered his head distractedly.

"Are you in a bad mood today?" The instincts of an intelligence officer stirred within Amuro. He instinctively adjusted his expression and asked in a gentle, nonthreatening tone, "You weren't like this when you left this morning. Did something happen outside?"

Tangze would not ask about his parents for no reason. As far as Amuro knew, they had been out of contact for years.

Therefore, Tangze must have discovered something.

As Furuya Rei, he could not bear it. But as Tooru Amuro, he had to seize this opportunity and press further.

Tangze was no stranger to his act. He knew Amuro had started performing.

But a scene partner was exactly what Tangze needed.

The deeper the schemes, the harder it was to tell who was taking whom seriously.

"I have a very bad feeling." Tangze sat before the counter, his fingertips pressed together against his forehead. "Can you help me contact the owner and ask about my parents' current situation? During the trial, I asked their attorney, but I didn't get an answer."

Amuro stood straight behind the counter, lowering his gaze.

Tangze looked very fragile right now. Leaning into his palms, his half-open blue eyes were unfocused. From where Amuro stood, he could see Tangze's unguarded nape.

This child, who knew nothing, was like a sacrificial offering baring his neck for slaughter. Anyone could seize his vital point and easily take his value from him.

Furuya Rei looked down at him with pity. Then Tooru Amuro reached out and stroked his bowed head, as though he were calmly and unwaveringly cutting open his prey's throat.

"Why do you think that, Tangze?" he asked in an even gentler voice. "Did you receive some news?"