As evening fell, Heiji stepped out of the villa district and onto the street, his heart anything but calm. He had never imagined that coming to Tokyo to look for Shinichi would lead to something like this.
First, Shinichi had gone into the restroom and come out as Conan. Then Onizawa had disguised himself as an entirely different person in just a few minutes.
What kind of fantasy city was Tokyo? Or had he simply not woken up properly today and was seeing things?
Sitting beside him, Conan was equally unsettled.
He kept wondering what Sensei wanted to tell him. Could his teacher's identity be more than just an inspector from the MPD?
He recalled what Haibara had told him, then remembered that rainy night in New York a year ago, the silver-haired young man dressed entirely in black, with the cross-shaped scar beneath his left eye...
The same hair color. The same eye color.
Could it really not be a coincidence? Were they actually the same person? But if that were true, it still didn't explain Onizawa-sensei's identity.
If he truly had ties to the Organization, then why hadn't he reported his identity to that mysterious group?
What exactly was he planning?
While the two high school detectives were caught up in a storm of deductions, Ritsu leisurely drove his beloved car while placing a phone call.
He had long planned to cooperate with Shinichi, so even revealing his own identity wasn't a big deal.
The only unexpected variable had been Heiji.
Fortunately, his father was the Superintendent Supervisor of the Osaka Prefectural Police, and his background was clean enough that there was no need to worry about him becoming a threat.
At that moment, Ritsu cheerfully placed an order with Akemi.
"I'm kind of craving grilled skewers. If possible, could you also make Fukagawa-meshi?"
"You've really gotten spoiled." Akemi couldn't help complaining.
"Back then, you'd eat whatever I made. Now you're actually requesting dishes."
"I can be your taste tester. Next time, you'll be able to make it for your sister with the perfect seasoning."
Opening the refrigerator, Akemi laughed helplessly when she heard that.
"Sorry, but the word 'poison' is something associated with you. Everything I cook is both harmless and delicious."
"..."
Ritsu fell silent.
His mind immediately flashed back to the kitchen in Vodka's new house that he had blown up.
If he weren't driving right now, he would have been so embarrassed that he could have curled his toes hard enough to dig a three-bedroom apartment into the floor as compensation for Vodka.
"Alright, enough joking around. If you want Fukagawa-meshi, I need to start preparing it now. I'm hanging up, so drive safely."
"Mm."
Evening rush hour traffic in Tokyo was as congested as ever.
Despite the destination not being particularly far away, it still took him half an hour to arrive because of the traffic.
As soon as Ritsu parked the car, he received a call from Conan. Hearing him deliberately speak in a childish tone over the phone was oddly amusing.
"I just got here. You two wait for me by the elevator. I'll come up from the underground parking garage and meet you."
"Okay, Onizawa-nii!"
The elevator stopped on the first floor.
Looking at the visibly wary Heiji, Ritsu responded with his usual gentle smile. But in Heiji's eyes, that smile looked downright terrifying.
Like a big bad wolf luring an innocent little rabbit.
A dozen seconds later, the elevator reached the top floor.
Ritsu stepped out with practiced ease, pressed his fingerprint against the scanner, and unlocked the front door.
Since this was a full disclosure, he had no intention of putting on any unnecessary disguises.
"Come in, Heiji. Kudo."
'K-Kudo?'
Heiji's gaze instantly locked onto Conan.
'So this bespectacled little brat really was Kudo Shinichi? Could anything possibly be more unbelievable than this?'
Even television dramas wouldn't dare write something this outrageous!
Conan hadn't expected Sensei to expose his identity so directly either. At that point, he couldn't be bothered pretending to be a clueless child anymore.
"Come in. Sensei isn't a bad person."
"...Oh."
The amount of information was simply too much.
Heiji felt like he was suffering from severe mental indigestion. Still dazed, he walked inside. After changing into slippers, he suddenly met someone's gaze.
Or rather, something that wasn't human. His eyes met those of the lemon shark inside the aquarium.
He exclaimed in shock,
"A... a shark?!"
"Oh, that's my pet, Gingerbread."
Ritsu was rather satisfied with his reaction. Pointing toward the bathroom, he said,
"Go wash your hands and get ready for dinner. As for the important matters, we'll talk after we've eaten."
Conan deliberately slowed his pace.
Once Heiji entered the bathroom, he hurriedly asked,
"Onizawa-sensei, why did you tell him my identity outright? We still haven't confirmed whether he..."
"Don't worry. Heizo's son isn't one of them. Besides, his reasoning ability is about on par with yours. It'll make it easier for him to help hide your identity whenever I'm not around."
Conan clearly hadn't expected his teacher to have thought that far ahead.
"That's true. With him around, I won't have to keep using the Professor's inventions to victimize Uncle."
Ritsu narrowed his eyes and chuckled.
"So you know you're victimizing him, huh? Don't forget, Kogoro used to be a detective in the police force. He's not as simple as you think."
"Uncle is pretty simple when it comes to detective work. The only things he's good at are finding lost cats and dogs and investigating cheating spouses."
"His deductive ability may be lacking, but..."
"Are you two planning to skip dinner by not washing your hands?"
Wearing an apron, Akemi walked out with her hands on her hips, looking displeased.
"Akemi-san, I'm going right now!"
Ritsu glanced at Akemi, who had deliberately interrupted their conversation.
"What is it?"
She stepped closer and lowered her voice.
"Actually, there's something I never told you. Back when Takagi-san was still hospitalized, I ran into Mouri-san while delivering food one day."
"Oh? What was he doing at the hospital?"
Ritsu had been secretly keeping an eye on the Mouri family.
Since he had already confirmed that Mouri's wife, Kisaki Eri, hadn't fallen ill or gotten into any trouble, then what reason did Kogoro have for going to the hospital?
"I looked into it a little. He went there for a physical examination."
A physical examination.
Hearing those words, Ritsu frowned.
There was no reason for Kogoro to undergo one out of the blue. He certainly didn't look sick.
That left only one possibility.
Kogoro had begun to suspect the reason he had become the Sleeping Kogoro.
It was obvious that he found it unnatural to solve cases while asleep, only to have absolutely no memory of them afterward.
"Heh... now that's interesting. So he really is starting to suspect that someone has been tampering with him?"
Ritsu reached out and patted Akemi on the shoulder with a smile.
"That's right. Looks like I'll have to keep a close eye on Mouri-san for the time being. Apparently, the examination results haven't come back yet."
Akemi glanced meaningfully toward the tightly shut bathroom door and said with interest,
"I'm actually looking forward to seeing Mouri-san's expression when he learns someone's true identity. Though from the perspective of your plan, that wouldn't exactly be advantageous, would it?"
"It's not too bad. If someone helps keep the secret, it'll only make things more convenient."
"That's good, then. Hurry and wash your hands in the kitchen too. Dinner's almost ready."
"Alright. Thanks for all your hard work."