"What was that...?" Saguru Hakuba and Heiji Hattori, who had little understanding of what the Phantom Thieves of Hearts truly were, exchanged a glance and found the same shock in each other's eyes.
They had been standing right beside Natsuki Koshi and had naturally seen the girl fall from the building. Yet their reactions had clearly been slower than Natsuki's—the very person who had helped bring about the scene before them. In only a few seconds, in a flash of lightning, everything had happened.
Conan stared wide-eyed at Natsuki Koshi, who had fallen to her knees on her back. There was clearly something new on her face beneath her bangs, and as he widened his eyes, he felt like his thoughts were finally about to connect.
So the reason those Phantom Thieves dressed like that was actually inseparable from their abilities...
It was not that they liked dressing that way. Quite the opposite—their outfits were a facade meant to conceal the true nature of their powers...
Conan watched as he approached. Just as he reached out to touch Natsuki Koshi's shoulder and confirm her condition, a fierce blast of air ignited. In an instant, it swallowed the kneeling Natsuki Koshi in flames.
"Natsuki...!" Conan jolted, trying to pull her out of the fire, but the violent wind had already swept him away, sending him flying backward.
"Hey, Conan—" Heiji Hattori raised a hand to shield his face on instinct, and because of that, he missed his chance to catch the flying Conan.
"Oh dear, what bad timing."
Just as Conan thought he was about to slam heavily into something and injure himself, familiar soft fabric curled around him and caught him in time.
A red scarf gently wrapped around his small body and slowly lowered him to the ground.
"Joker..."