[…My life is insignificant, and I believe you understand this. You and I are just tiny parts of their plan.
I know what you want. Complete my request, and then, my death will be placed before your desk.]
After typing the last period, Haibara Ai calmly reread the content.
The organization had begun to question her whereabouts and had even started to test her.
Could the colorful page attached to the doctor's email be a coincidence?
Maybe. But she didn't dare to gamble on her luck.
In a place like this where luck is needed... her luck had always been bad.
Taking a deep breath, Haibara Ai moved the mouse, looked carefully at the square "Send" button, and clicked the left button.
Death may be a terrible thing.
But when she swallowed drug A, she originally wanted to avoid more serious consequences by her own death.
She had something she had to protect—especially after seeing the truth behind her uncle and aunt's research... The drugs she developed had killed too many people and had left too many struggling in a life worse than death, unable to even die.
Being able to decide whether to stay in this world at will was already far freer than the many victims who were trapped in the quagmire because of her.
Seeing the progress bar reach the end, Haibara Ai relaxed, fell into the computer chair, and hugged her knees.
She had lived in the organization for so many years. Even when she went overseas, she lived in local organization facilities and remained under strict surveillance. She had no one she could trust.
As fellow Codename members, Gin and his companions were wary of her and looked down upon her weak struggles. Victims like Vermouth and Kumail even regarded her as an enemy and wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible.
After counting, the only one who might be moved by her was Kumail, the new code member.
He knew very little about the organization's real plans, yet was closely involved with them.
She'd heard that his purpose for joining the organization was to escape his father's cruel control, but the organization had not yet told him the full truth about those drugs, nor had it developed a complete antidote.
Surely he would be tempted?
The worst-case scenario was that Kumail remained unmoved and turned over her information. If her disguise were ever exposed, she would flee as quickly as possible, rush to her disguised location, and die in a fitting manner...
"Sister." Patting the box in her trouser pocket, she silently chanted in her heart, "We will meet soon. Will you bless me? Please take Karasawa's share with you, and let fate have mercy on me once."
———
"Hiss—"
"Karasawa, what's wrong with you?" Conan noticed that he'd inexplicably raised his hands and covered his face tightly. He swallowed a mouthful of orange juice and looked up to observe, "...Does your tooth hurt?"
It wasn't a toothache. It was phantom pain.
Just after reading that email, Karasawa felt that the side of his face had been grabbed by Miyano Akemi's slender fingers and was being pulled out desperately.
He'd made a fool of himself—used Amuro Toru to scare his unlucky sister who had a very sensitive radar. As a result, his sister was frightened to the point of crashing her computer. She was determined to die and was ready to exchange her own death for a promise from her old enemy...
If Mingmei saw this...
Karasawa covered his cheeks even harder.
"It's normal for you to have a toothache after eating so many desserts every day." Conan patted his arm twice. It was hard to tell whether his tone was one of pity or gloating.
"Don't talk nonsense, kid. It's just a little sweet treat. You should drink less coffee. You won't grow taller."
After grinding his teeth, Karasawa took his hand away and pondered over his phone.
How should I reply to Miyano Shiho...
Shouldn't I talk to my sister first? If I have to be beaten, I can pay it in installments, which will reduce the burden...
While Karasawa was struggling to choose his words—deleting and revising—he was fiddling with his phone. Over there, the Tozawa family was having a great time because of the Phantom Thieves' high-speed overtime and happy ending.
"Are you really okay?" Tomizawa Yuzo repeated, rubbing his back which was sore from being slapped.
Tomizawa Tetsuji's eyes widened. "It's okay, it's okay! I'm fine!"
"Dad, you can't blame Yuzo. It's your tone that's too scary." Fuze Tatsuji walked over and grabbed his red-faced father. His face was strange, wanting to laugh and cry at the same time. "Before, you always disapproved of Hiromi, always saying that Yuzo married the Suzuki family's daughter. I just... I..."
Tetsuji Tozawa froze for a moment, then his expression softened.
The most shocked person was Taichi Tomizawa. Only at this moment did he slowly stand up from his seat, with traces of tears already on his face.
"I, I..." Taichi Tomizawa gritted his teeth, his knees softened, and he suddenly knelt down.
"Taiyi!" "Brother!"
The father and his son exclaimed and walked in front of Taiyi.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." With his hands on the wooden floor of the open-air restaurant, Taichi Tomizawa gradually broke down in tears. "I actually had such a terrible thought. I'm sorry... If I hadn't heard these words tonight, I would..."
The Tomizawa brothers froze in their tracks and understood the unspeakable truth in his words.
Tetsuji Tozawa lowered his head and looked at his son who was lying on the ground crying for a while. He sighed heavily and reached out to pull him up.
"Dad's gone too far, hasn't he?" Just like when he hugged his son who had fallen to the ground and burst into tears when they were little, Tetsuji Tozawa put his eldest son on his shoulders and patted his back with one hand. "Don't blame Dad. Dad's old, and sometimes he can't understand things... Today, I suddenly thought of your mother. If she were still alive, she would slap me hard, right?"
Taichi Tomizawa hugged his father tightly and felt his father's watch hitting his back, which made him feel even more guilty.
This watch—he gave it to his father. The bug inside was still working.
This was the mark he had originally planned to use to forge an alibi. He planned to wait for his father to go to the Suzuki family's villa to meet Yuzo's fiancée, then kill him and use the eavesdropped content to pretend that he was watching a baseball game at the time...
A single thought would have made him lose his mind...
While eating, they also watched the show. A few people who were eating for free almost couldn't help but raise their hands and applaud the happy ending.
"Ah, it seems like marrying into the Tozawa family is a good choice for my sister." Suzuki Sonoko looked at the scene happily. "They are a very harmonious family."
"It's quite harmonious..." Conan's eyebrows twitched when he heard her conclusion.
If he'd heard correctly, weren't these people saying that Tetsuji Tozawa had been constantly finding fault with his sons, disliking their careers, partners, and life plans? If he hadn't suddenly come to his senses today and pulled them aside to confess and apologize, his sons would have been so twisted they'd almost attacked their own father, right?
You call that harmony?
Not wanting to pay attention to this thick-skinned classmate for the time being, Conan's focus returned to the sentence he had just heard.
"I suddenly realized... if it wasn't tonight..."
He suddenly sensed a familiar shadow behind this incident.
Tatsuya Kimura, the lead singer of the band Rex.
The sudden openness of mind and the remorse for his previous wrongdoings caused the would-be murderer, who was on the verge of committing an irreparable crime, to abandon his original plan...
Was it him this time? Did Joker do something?
Conan glanced suspiciously at the guests around him, and then intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Karasawa who was busy with his head down.
Joker had said that he attached great importance to Karasawa, and that his discovery of the shrunken Kudo Shinichi was just an unexpected gain from his investigation of the situation around Karasawa.
Could it be that because he called Karasawa, Joker discovered the clues of the Tozawa family and took action in secret?
Well, I just don't know what the situation is between the two of them. Is Karasawa still unaware of Joker's affairs?
I should ask indirectly if I get the chance...