"Hey? Are you going to stay a few more days?" Conan looked at Kazawa in surprise. "The programmers have all left. Even if you stay, you won't find out anything else."
Kazawa held the straw of his soda in his mouth, looked at Conan pitifully, and said in a slightly aggrieved tone, "But it's rare for me to apply for such a long leave to play outside Tokyo… Do I really have to go back in just three days?"
After saying that, Kazawa's expression shifted to one of teasing. He glanced suggestively at the beach outside the French window. "Stay a few more days—you can see Mao Lilan in a swimsuit a few more times. I think you're quite happy about that."
Conan's face immediately turned red. He wanted to argue back, but when he saw Kazawa's smile that seemed to say, "You're pretending, but I'm listening," he was left speechless.
After silencing Conan, Kazawa continued sipping his soda while gazing toward the beach in the distance.
The weather in Izu was still sunny, and the scorching sun made the white sand beach hot.
What else could he do... Looking at the sunny scene in front of him, Kazawa sighed heavily in his heart.
According to the strange timeline of the scientific world, when Conan returns to Tokyo, it will trigger the event of Haibara Ai transferring schools—which means his summer vacation is almost over.
And who knows what Haibara Ai will tell Conan this time. Before making all the necessary preparations, Kazawa wants to temporarily detain the Grim Reaper to avoid being forced to reveal himself or triggering Haibara Ai's organizational radar...
Honestly, Kazawa just had a headache and didn't want to face Miyano Shiho, who had turned into a tiny girl, at the moment.
Haibara Ai, as the number one riddler of the red team, had access to a vast amount of internal information about the organization. In this world, she had become a direct participant in the research lines of the Miyano couple and the Karasawa couple. You could say she was on the same level as the spoiler Karasawa.
Now that she'd lost her sister, and the last blood relative she knew—Tang Ze Zhao—was also killed by the organization in her eyes, she was in her lowest and angriest state.
Kazawa... was actually a little afraid of that situation.
For a riddler, the most painful thing is having to explain your inner journey to betrayed teammates.
Thinking about how much he'd have to explain to Miyano Shiho, Kazawa closed his eyes and didn't want to face it.
So, after using the example of Kudo Shinichi turning into Edogawa Conan to reassure Miyano Akemi, Karasawa talked things over with Amuro Toru, who was rushing to Tokyo, and decided to stay in Izu for another two days before returning when everything was ready.
While daydreaming, Kazawa finished his soda and walked toward the beach.
He had been busy with the Dark Night Baron case for several days and hadn't gotten a good swim in. Coming to the beach and not playing in the water would be such a waste.
A beach vacation was truly a new experience for Kazawa. His swimming skills had been trained for combat, and before this, he never had the chance to use them for fun.
Conan, wearing slippers, followed behind Kazawa, who had deliberately slowed down his pace. He looked at Kazawa's open coat and suddenly remembered what he'd seen a few days ago.
"Kazawa," Conan reached out and tugged at the sun-protection jacket Kazawa was wearing. When Kazawa looked down at him questioningly, Conan pointed to the area he remembered, "What's going on with that scar on your body?"
"Scar?" Kazawa was stunned for a moment and subconsciously reached to press below his ribs. "Ah, you're talking about this..."
The worst injuries Kazawa Zhao had ever suffered were from being beaten in the detention center.
Who knew if the organization members who framed Kazawa had personal grudges against his family. To go so far as to attack a child who had just turned eighteen was truly cruel.
The other steps—like spreading rumors at school after the conviction and launching online attacks—were harsh but could still be explained logically as part of their plan to send him to Tokyo.
But arranging for people to beat him up in the detention center felt more like pure revenge.
The worst incident was when five thugs in the same cell ganged up on him.
Those thugs were experienced in fighting. Two of them pinned him to the ground, while the other three focused on attacking his chest, abdomen, and legs. The injuries wouldn't be fatal, but they were definitely excruciating.
One of them even wore shoes with rivets and kept kicking his abdomen. That not only caused soft tissue injuries and fractured ribs, but also left several scars on his body.
The most serious one was 20 to 30 centimeters long and about 1 centimeter deep—it required 24 stitches...
The related memories stirred, and phantom pain returned. Kazawa clenched his teeth and inhaled sharply.
Come to think of it, didn't Kazami Yuya and the others find out who did it? Not sure how they handled those guys... Maybe Kazawa should go meet them and show them a little Ke Xue-style martial arts...
Seeing Kazawa's expression change so drastically, Conan realized a bit late—this might be a very painful memory.
He should have asked more carefully...
Conan let go of his hand and racked his brain for a way to change the subject, when suddenly, a surprised voice called out from the side.
"Kazawa!" A slender figure rushed toward them and knocked Kazawa off balance. "What a coincidence, Kazawa-kun!"
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden tackle, and the phantom pain disappeared. Kazawa steadied himself and supported the girl who was hugging his arm.
"Suzuki-san, what a coincidence. Are you here on vacation too?"
"Yeah, I heard the beach here was nice..." After a few casual greetings, Suzuki Sonoko grabbed his hand, looked at Kazawa's current outfit with sparkling eyes, and couldn't help but ask, "Kazawa, are you going swimming?"
Conan, who had silently moved aside to avoid being caught in the middle, showed a look of disdain in his crescent-moon eyes when he heard that.
Too fake. Don't even try to act…
He clearly remembered that yesterday when Sonoko was talking to Xiaolan, she heard Kazawa was here and came because of that.
"Is Suzuki-san also on vacation?" Kazawa subtly adjusted his angle to avoid Sonoko's heated gaze going straight to his chest, then responded, "Doesn't the Suzuki Group have their own resort in Izu?"
The Suzuki family had no shortage of private properties across Japan. In Izu alone, they had multiple seaside villas, which even showed up in the original plot.
Those were real private beaches—definitely better than the semi-public beaches at hotels, right?
"Ahahaha..." Suzuki Sonoko paused and laughed dryly, "But when going to the beach in summer, it's more fun to go somewhere lively, right? Though, if you're interested in a quieter place, my sister has a villa nearby..."
Just a second ago she said she came to the hotel for vacation, now she's inviting Kazawa to a private villa...
Conan, who couldn't stand watching anymore, interrupted, "Sonoko-oneesan, I heard you talking to Ran-oneesan on the phone yesterday. You said you were coming to accompany your sister to visit someone. Is Ayako-oneesan here too?"
Kazawa was stunned when he heard this, and couldn't help but look at Suzuki Sonoko.
Suzuki Ayako... villa... visit...
Although he couldn't recall the exact details for now, just hearing those keywords made Kazawa realize—he might have walked into the plot.
How sad… It's really over...