"Is it Administrator Matsumoto?"
Fujino took a guess, and right away, he figured it was Matsumoto Kiyonaga.
He didn't know too many cops, after all. And the ones who could have dealings with the head of the Criminal Affairs Department? Even fewer.
"Yeah, he mentions you to me a lot. I've also checked out the files from your past cases—pretty impressive stuff."
Odagiri Toshiro stood with his hands clasped in front of him, eyeing Fujino. His gaze lingered on the black suit and red tie. For a fleeting moment, it felt like he was looking at a turbo-charged, mini-plus-max version of his own youth. Back in the day, he'd been pretty fond of rocking a black suit and tie himself.
Snapping out of it, his expression turned serious. "So, Fujino-kun, what's your plan after graduation?"
As the head of the Criminal Affairs Department, he'd naturally heard of Fujino before. But hearing about someone and meeting them in person? Totally different vibe.
Today, he finally got it—why his subordinates were so taken with this kid. The looks, the vibe, the knack for cracking cases… It'd be a waste if he didn't become a cop. Hell, if he were a bit darker-skinned, he could probably pull off undercover work.
(Amuro Toru: *Huh?*)
"My plans after graduation?" Fujino muttered, puzzled, catching on that the guy was tossing him an olive branch.
Unlike the usual offers from administrators or pretty female detectives, this time it was coming from the head of the Criminal Affairs Department himself. Talk about sincerity.
With a connection like that, if Fujino did end up becoming a detective, he'd basically have free rein—not just in the Metropolitan Police Department, but at least in the Criminal Affairs Division.
Still, Fujino had zero interest in being a cop. So, as usual, he politely turned it down. "I haven't really thought about it yet. I mean, I'm only in my second year of high school—I haven't even graduated yet. College feels like a lifetime away. So, for now, I'm just taking it one step at a time…"
"Oh, I see…"
Odagiri Toshiro didn't push further after hearing that. He just sighed inwardly, feeling a twinge of regret.
If Fujino joined the Criminal Affairs Department while he was still in charge, got some experience under his belt, maybe he could've climbed up to his position someday. Even if he didn't make it that far, he'd at least land a decent gig as an administrator.
Such a shame, though—a talent like him getting "wasted" in the detective business.
Sure, to regular folks, being a detective might seem like a solid path. But in Odagiri Toshiro's eyes? It was small-time.
This time around, if it weren't for approval from the higher-ups, there's no way they'd have let a detective like Fujino poke around in the investigation.
Identity-wise, detectives and cops didn't mix. Yeah, detectives often helped out the police, but at the end of the day, it was just a civilian-police partnership—nothing more.
Fujino knew the pros and cons of all this too. But compared to becoming a cop, he'd rather stick to being a detective, raking in big bucks from the system and clients.
Detectives could cash in on their reputation; cops were stuck with a measly salary. And to top it off, cops had to grind overtime all the time.
Even worse? The promotion system for Japanese police. It's all about seniority.
Police officers in Japan had set years for climbing the ranks, and the timelines varied depending on the level. The civil service exams split cops into Category 1 and Category 2, with basic patrol recruitment below that.
Category 1 was the fast track—starting as an assistant inspector intern and going full inspector in just a few months. Category 2? That depended, but it never reached the heights of Category 1.
Take Sato Miwako—she's Category 2. Pushing thirty and still just an assistant inspector. Meanwhile, Shiratori Ninzaburo's already an inspector, and his career's only going up from there.
The whole "grind your years" thing was enough for Fujino to rule it out completely.
Forget whether he could even make it in the *Conan-verse*'s messed-up world—graduating high school already felt like a long shot at this rate. College? Category 1 exams? Becoming an inspector in a few months? Yeah, right.
"Even though I can't investigate this case myself, I'll order my people to look into Kazuto Kyosuke," Odagiri Toshiro said gravely. "If he really is the killer, once we've got the evidence, I'll arrest him myself…"
He paused, then remembered his deadbeat son. "As for you, you useless punk—sure, the victim's already dead, but your blackmail case? That's still getting investigated once this is over."
"Dad!"
"Shut it!"
Fujino could tell Odagiri Toshiro had completely lost patience with his son.
Messing around with a band all day, getting tangled up with drugs, and now blackmail? If that were *his* kid, Fujino would've been tempted to chop him down himself.
You've got to straighten out a disaster like that, right?
Especially since Odagiri Toshiro was the head of the Criminal Affairs Department. Who knows how many eyes were watching? One wrong move, and even he could get dragged down with it.
---
On the way back…
Nino Tama dropped off in the city and took a cab home, leaving just the two of them in the car.
"You really think Kazuto Kyosuke's the killer?" Hakuba Tan, sitting in the back, glanced at Fujino driving, sounding a bit unsure. "Yeah, there's some evidence pointing to him, but the chain's not solid…"
He agreed with Fujino's reasoning, sure, but he still couldn't fully buy into this style of deduction.
Ruling out all the current suspects with solid leads, only to pin it on a psychologist they'd barely met once? Yeah, there was evidence, but something felt off.
Probably Fujino's gut-based deduction throwing him off. Hakuba's style leaned more toward finding hard proof to nail the culprit.
"You know as well as I do—some cases, if you wait until every piece of evidence is perfectly lined up, a new victim's already popped up," Fujino said, staring at the highway speeding by, his tone heavy with meaning. "Whether it's him or not, we'll know once Odagiri's investigation wraps up. If I'm wrong, no big loss. But my gut? It's never steered me wrong."
"Tomorrow, then?"
Hakuba turned to look out the window, propping his chin on his hand, a flicker of anticipation in his eyes.
He was curious to see if Fujino's so-called "detective intuition" actually held up.
---
The next morning, Fujino had barely gotten out of bed when an unexpected visitor showed up at the detective agency.
"Tomonari Makoto, right?"
Fujino sat on the couch in the agency's meeting room, sizing up the guy across from him—red shirt, blue jacket.
"How'd you…"
Tomonari Makoto looked stunned, staring at Fujino, clearly thrown off.
He obviously couldn't figure out how Fujino knew who he was.
"Well…"
Before Fujino could finish, there was a knock at the door—Haihara Ai's voice came through. "Fujino, that blond kid's here looking for you again."
"Got it, Ai!" Fujino called back. "Mr. Tomonari, hang on a sec. I'm gonna grab a high school detective to join us."
"A high school detective?"
Ignoring Tomonari's confusion, Fujino opened the door to find Haihara Ai standing there in an apron. "Ai, where's the blond kid?"
"I told him you were meeting a client, so I didn't let him up," she said, wiping her hands. "He's waiting at the drink shop now."
"Thanks for that…"
"No biggie."
"Miyano-nee, did this guy pay for his drink?"
Fujino stepped into the shop and spotted Hakuba Tan sitting by the edge, giving Miyano Akemi a quick wave.
"Uh, well…" Miyano Akemi hesitated. "I heard he's your friend, so I figured…"
"Friend? Yeah, he's a friend," Fujino nodded. "But blond friends pay double for drinks."
"Huh!?"
Hakuba barely kept his cool, glancing at his cup, then at Fujino. "What kind of rule is that?"
"Just kidding," Fujino said, strolling over. "So, what's got you here this early?"
"To work the case, obviously."
"No need for that. Come with me to meet someone."
"Meet someone?"
"Tomonari Makoto."
"Tomonari Makoto!?"
---
Inside Fujino's detective agency…
The three of them sat across from each other on the couch, the vibe a little tense.
"This is Hakuba Tan, son of the Superintendent General," Fujino said casually, then circled back to the earlier topic. "As for how I know who you are, it's because I've been involved in investigating the recent cases of cops getting killed."
Hakuba Tan: "…"
*You're really hung up on that "Superintendent General's son" thing, huh?*
"The Superintendent General's son… You're in on the case too!?" Tomonari Makoto blinked in shock, then slumped, almost teary-eyed. "I came to you specifically because I *don't* trust the police…"
"Sorry about that," Fujino chuckled. "Technically, we're both working with the police right now… But that doesn't stop me from taking your case. You're just a suspect for now, anyway."
*Helping out the investigation pays nothing, but turning a suspect into a client? No problem there.*
"Oh, really?"
Tomonari Makoto gave Fujino a complicated look.
Hakuba Tan couldn't hold back anymore. "So, Mr. Tomonari, where've you been lately? Why couldn't the police find you anywhere?"
"Ahem!" Fujino coughed lightly, shooting Hakuba a glance. "This is *my* client."
*You're getting bold, kid—trying to muscle in on my gig? Next time I see your dad, we're having a serious chat.*
"Uh…" Hakuba froze, realizing he'd overstepped.
Fujino took the reins. "Mr. Tomonari, mind answering that one?"
"A few days ago, some guy called me out of the blue, saying he'd tell me the truth about my dad's death. I went to the traffic light in Mihama Town like he told me to, waiting for him," Tomonari said, head lowered as he recalled. "But when I got there, he never showed. Then, not long after, Officer Nara died nearby… Later, it was the Greenery Park Building. You know what happened there. That's when I realized I'd been set up. After that, I moved to a small inn to lay low."
He paused, then went on. "The next day, I called home and found a message from some woman named Sato, telling me to go to the Mihama Sun Hotel. When I got there, the place was crawling with cops, so I bolted…"
"Sato?" Hakuba rubbed his chin. "Sato wouldn't invite you… Unless… Could it be a man *and* a woman? If so, maybe Odagiri Toshiro and Nino Tama… Or a voice changer?"
"Hakuba-kun?" Fujino flashed a "nice try" smile. "You get it, right?"
Hakuba: "Fine, you take it."
---
"Just like I thought. The killer's trying to use your grudge against those three cops to frame you," Fujino said after getting the rundown, nodding like it was all expected.
Hakuba, meanwhile, squinted, puzzled.
*Damn, it really lined up with what he said. How does he even know this? Did these two rehearse this to mess with me?*
Hakuba sank into thought, totally thrown.
"So what do I do now?" Tomonari asked, panicking. "I didn't kill those cops, I swear. I don't trust them, but I'm not out to murder them!"
"Simple—go clear things up," Fujino replied. "That's the only way to shake off the suspicion. Though, odds are the killer won't make another move now. They went through all this trouble to stay hidden, and now that's blown. They'll probably back off."
"Well…"
A phone ring cut Fujino off. He picked up, and Odagiri Toshiro's voice came through…
---
That night…
Sato Miwako walked alone down a quiet street, dressed in a fitted gray suit skirt and black stockings.
Not far behind, a shadowy figure trailed her—none other than Kazuto Kyosuke.
Kazuto Kyosuke watched Sato Miwako, a smirk tugging at his lips.
Just this afternoon, this cop—his next target—had come to *him* for a session, thanks to that idiot Shiratori's introduction.
After some smooth talking, he'd learned she was off-duty today, no security around, and her car had broken down. She'd taken the subway and was walking home.
Perfect timing! If he didn't strike now, when would he?
Kazuto pulled out a gun—identical to the ones used before—his mood downright giddy.
*Looks like the universe isn't always out to get me.*
Kill this cop, then take out Tomonari Makoto, and he'd be in the clear for good.
Up ahead, Sato Miwako had already clocked the guy tailing her.
*Snoozed off and forgot to post—my bad.*
(End of Chapter)