Let us rewind time slightly and return to the perspective inside the hijacked bus.
Tsuneo, who had been in the middle of a call, suddenly had his phone snatched away and a pistol shoved toward him.
"You pretty boy, I've been itching to deal with you since the moment you got on. Are you in that much of a hurry to get reincarnated?" Hijacker B heard the woman on the other end of the line still saying "Hello?" repeatedly. He snarled and slammed the phone violently onto the floor.
Conan saw the phone shatter and watched as the repairman slowly stood up. He immediately thought to himself: Uh-oh.
Of all the people to provoke, you had to pick the Living Yama.
Hey, hey, hey! The guy standing next to the driver hasn't been taken care of yet! Is it up to me then? The Great Detective prepared to reach down and activate his Power-Enhancing Kick Shoes.
Just then, "Little Red Riding Hood" beside him reached out and gripped his sleeve tightly.
Kudo! The Organization... someone from that Organization is right here. Don't be impulsive!
"Hehe... I'll send you to your reincarnation right now," Tsuneo said, a dangerous smile spreading across his face. His hand shot out like a steel pincer, crushing the wrist of the hand holding the gun.
A sickening crack—the sound of bone snapping—echoed through the bus, followed by a gut-wrenching howl of agony from Hijacker B. After snapping the wrist, Tsuneo followed up instantly with a vicious kick to the groin.
"Hey! What are you doing!"
Hijacker A, who had been controlling the driver, whipped around at the sound of the scream, aiming his gun at Tsuneo with both hands.
"I'm sending him to his reincarnation. Didn't you hear me?"
The repairman asked with a smile, lifting the now-unconscious Hijacker B off the floor. I was happy to play along with your little drama for a bit, but don't take it too far!
This man... The young man in the back row wearing the mask and knit cap narrowed his eyes at the scene. Is he really just a detective? Something's off.
Akai Shuichi then glanced at the middle-aged woman who had been incessantly chewing gum. Between them sat the old man with the hearing aid, but the sound of the woman's chewing was getting faster and faster—a detail he heard clearly.
Bang!
The third gunshot of the day rang out.
Tsuneo didn't hesitate for a second. He used the hijacker in his hand as a human shield to block the bullet. No special trick—just pure, practiced reflex!
Seeing this, even Jodie—who had been ready to make her own move—froze in her tracks. The repairman, who had once fixed things for her, charged forward behind his human shield. In the next heartbeat, his palm struck upward, slamming into the hijacker's jaw with explosive force.
Jodie almost doubted her own eyes; she hadn't even seen how he moved. Furthermore, the "human shield" was a man in heavy ski gear weighing at least 80 or 90 kilograms. How did he manage to carry him as if he were a plastic grocery bag?
Dr. Araide's expression was solemn, his deep gaze fixed on that silhouette.
"You can stop the car now!" Conan had somehow already made it to the driver's side to give the reminder. The Great Detective had his tranquilizer watch aimed and ready, fearing innocent people might get hurt.
"Right!" The driver glanced in the rearview mirror, saw the young man standing over two downed criminals, swallowed hard, and slowly pulled the bus over to the curb.
"You. Stay right there."
As the doors hissed open and everyone began to file out, Tsuneo called out to the middle-aged woman who had been chewing gum.
"Is... is there something wrong?" the woman stammered, her whole body trembling as she turned around.
"?" Conan frowned, one hand in his pocket. Come to think of it, there were three robbers at large from that jewelry heist. Could it be? But wait—how did Tsuneo know?
"Stay here and be a good girl, or I'll give you two kicks as well," Tsuneo threatened, glancing at her.
"I—I understand!" The woman didn't dare say another word. That previous kick had probably changed her accomplice's gender and sent him straight into a coma.
"If you don't want to spend your life in prison, you could also try to detonate the bomb," Tsuneo said, picking up Conan with one hand and "Little Red Riding Hood" with the other as he stepped off the bus.
"It really is Mr. Tsuneo!" Takagi shouted in surprise. Through his binoculars, he had seen a passenger whose clothes were very familiar—that same grey tracksuit he wore all year round.
The police quickly secured the scene and called in the Bomb Disposal Squad.
"Officer Takagi, let me borrow your phone for a second." Tsuneo needed to update the other detective who was out on a case.
"Honestly, what a guy—prizing romance over friends," Conan muttered, watching the repairman carry Haibara to the side to make his call. If his phone hadn't been smashed, this guy would probably still be sitting there acting like nothing was wrong.
"Cool kid, I didn't get a chance to ask—who is that girl in the hood?" Jodie walked over with her hands behind her back, Dr. Araide following close behind.
"She's just a student at Teitan Elementary," Conan said with an innocent, childish tilt of his head. She's just a first-grader; there's no need for you to keep asking.
"Still, it was quite unexpected—Mr. Tsuneo's strength," Dr. Araide mused, resting his chin on his fingers. No, the scariest part wasn't just the combat skill, but the reaction when facing a gun—the cold lack of hesitation in using a hijacker's body as a shield.
"Of course! Brother Tsuneo personally arrested an international thief!"
"That's right! He pinned the guy down so he couldn't even move!"
The three kids began bragging about the repairman's track record. Seeing this, Conan knew he didn't need to help with any excuses. His gaze kept scanning the crowd. Who was the one Haibara's intuition warned her about?
"You can put me down now..." Haibara looked up at the repairman. How long are you going to carry me like a piece of luggage?
"I already told you who it was. Why are you still this scared?" Tsuneo asked, hanging up the phone. He had already briefed the Professor and the others on Tomoaki Araide's true identity and told them to check for bugs. Was it necessary to shake this much?
"That feeling..." Haibara clenched her fists. Overcoming fear wasn't that simple. "Are you never planning to make a move against that person?"
She felt that with such a dangerous individual around, she wouldn't even be able to finish a meal. Last time they came to school for physicals, she had gone out of her way to hide.
"Her?" Tsuneo pondered for a moment, then lifted "Little Red Riding Hood" a bit higher to whisper in her ear for a while.
"You—are you joking?!" Haibara's face paled. She couldn't believe it.
"I'm serious. Let's wait and see. If it really comes down to it, we'll use Kudo to threaten that witch," Tsuneo nodded, clearly having planned this for a long time.
"Are you sure that would work?" Haibara felt her mind was a mess.
Using him to threaten her. This repairman's mental state was a hundred years ahead of her own...
(End of Chapter)
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