Pinching his slightly overgrown bangs, as he stepped into the barber shop tucked away in a remote alley, he could immediately feel the air conditioning was blasting inside.
"Welcome."
"Good afternoon, oh..."
After greeting the barber, Hayashi Yoshiki's gaze quickly drifted toward a customer in the corner.
A tall man dressed in a stuffy black overcoat, sitting with one leg crossed.
Although his face was hidden under a hair dryer hood, his striking silver long hair was impossible to miss.
Hearing a familiar voice, Gin's eyes shifted away from the magazine in his hands and landed on a pair of feet in his line of sight.
"I thought maybe one day I'd just happen to run into you here, but I didn't expect it to really happen."
"I'm off today."
Gin's indifferent voice came from beneath the hairdryer.
The misty hot steam blurred his eyes, but looking at Gin like this, Hayashi Yoshiki could hardly keep a straight face.
If someone outside the shop raised a sniper rifle at Gin right now, there'd be no escape this time.
Today, Hayashi Yoshiki came just to get a haircut.
After a previous operation, he had once gone with Gin to get their hair done—this cold-blooded killer seemed indifferent to everything, yet surprisingly cared about his flowing silver hair.
He maintained it every month and went only to very upscale salons to avoid leaving any trail.
He wouldn't visit the same place twice in a short time.
"Almost done?"
"What's up?"
"I want to borrow Chianti or Korn."
"..."
Under the mist, an unexpected glint appeared in Gin's eyes.
Did Cointreau need a sniper?
No, what was he up to this time?
Lately, there hadn't been much major news. From Gin's perspective, the only thing he knew was that Cointreau had recently orchestrated a bunch of mercenaries to inexplicably hijack the Suzuki Corporation's airship, scaring all of Osaka with a nonexistent deadly bacteria... he was crazy.
What annoyed Gin most was that he had actually rushed to save him at the time, thinking Cointreau was in danger.
"Why the silence?"
"I'll have to find those two myself."
They probably wouldn't refuse anyway.
That was Gin's meaning.
The organization didn't forbid members from helping each other, like how Vermouth once casually ordered Calvados around.
But there was a slight problem: if members got too close and one ran into trouble with the organization, the other would likely be viewed suspiciously as well.
"That's exactly why I'm worried—because they won't refuse me."
"I feel Korn's been getting more unhinged lately. He sent me several names these past days, asking which one to change to next, and how someone should die more artistically."
"If I ask Chianti for help, I don't want to go out drinking with her."
Hayashi Yoshiki sat down beside Gin.
Hearing this, Gin fell silent.
Korn had always seemed a quiet, reliable tool to Gin, but Cointreau was pushing him toward madness, and even Gin was starting to lose patience.
As for Chianti...
The more Cointreau avoided her, the more aggressively she chased after him.
No way out.
Hayashi Yoshiki was quite good at handling women.
But for a woman who blatantly and loudly chased after him wanting to sleep with him, he was a little... uneasy.
"When is it? Let me know then."
"Okay."
Feeling a bit relieved after the negotiation, Hayashi Yoshiki stood up as the barber called him.
Gin snorted.
"You went to get a haircut?"
"Yeah, everything felt a bit long, so I trimmed it a little. How does it look?"
"Looks good."
Ai Haibara answered quite frankly.
Most of the time, she was pretty straightforward.
Hayashi Yoshiki smiled.
He said no more, focusing instead on the road ahead.
The atmosphere in the car grew silent.
Ai Haibara also fell quiet.
She felt a bit awkward.
This was their first meeting since the Suzuki Tower incident...
Compared to before, the atmosphere between them when alone now always felt unnatural.
Ai didn't like that feeling, but she was angry because Hayashi Yoshiki hadn't responded at the time.
"By the way, when I went for a haircut today, I ran into Gin—he was having a treatment to condition his hair."
"What kind of sick joke is that?"
"It's sad you don't believe me."
"That's ridiculous."
"Then how do you think he keeps that silver hair so eye-catching all the time?"
Hayashi Yoshiki suddenly exclaimed, "Ah, now that I think about it, I'm curious... does he collect every single hair that falls at the salon and take them with him?
I should have stayed longer to see."
Even if Ai Haibara thought this was a joke, she still couldn't imagine the scene.
Mentioning Gin always made her expression stiffen.
She looked away as if avoiding the topic, gazing out the window, but then her soft yet intelligent voice reached Hayashi Yoshiki's ears:
"I have already tested the new version of the APTX4869 antidote. The resistance issue has improved."
"Really? As expected of you."
Previously, Ai's research on the temporary APTX4869 antidote wasn't something one could just casually take...
In the original story, Conan transformed back many times, but the resistance to the antidote gradually grew stronger.
For example, the first temporary antidote's effect lasted about 24 hours, but after taking a second one right after, it only worked for 3 or 4 hours...
If taken continuously, he might never return to his original form.
"You've been like this for so long, I almost forget what you originally looked like."
Ai's small cheeks flushed faintly.
Her gaze lingered on the street outside, as if not hearing Hayashi Yoshiki's remark.
After a while, she looked back at him and suddenly asked:
"Do you want to try it again?"
"...Do you mean you want to take the temporary antidote?"
Hayashi Yoshiki didn't answer but stared at her in surprise.
The girl gave a look that said, "Don't say something stupid."
"No way."
Ai Haibara quieted down.
She stopped pressing the topic and just watched the road outside the window, quietly lost in thought.