Hoshikawa Teru's face was almost ashen, and the hand holding Sawai Manabu trembled with excessive force.
If it were just a common drug, or even another addictive substance, he wouldn't have lost his composure like this, nor would he be as tense as he was now.
But this kind of medicine...
Uchida Asami looked at the pills in Hoshikawa Teru's hand with fear and asked hesitantly, "Addiction? What is it?"
"It's a powerful analgesic," Kazawa replied, not stopping Xingchuan Hui's rough handling. Instead, he increased the pressure restraining Sawai Manabu to prevent him from escaping. "Akechi is right. It's a special drug with addictive properties."
Hayasaka Tomoko, who was standing nearby, covered her mouth in disbelief as she looked at Sawai Manabu being restrained. "President, why are you…?"
Uchida Asami suddenly stood up, knocking over her chair, and staggered back two steps, clearly wanting to distance herself from Sawai Manabu.
Sawai Manabu saw the shocked and disgusted expressions around the table and couldn't help but yell in defense: "What nonsense are you two talking about! This is just, just...!"
"Just a powerful sleeping pill, right?" Kazawa raised his foot and kicked his knee, causing him to collapse flat onto the table. "Add it to Ms. Uchida's drink, and in twenty minutes she'll be unconscious… even if there's a fire or earthquake, she wouldn't wake up. That's what you were planning?"
Sawai Manabu's pupils shrank at the mention of fire. He struggled silently and didn't offer a rebuttal.
"Ignorant fool!" Hoshikawa Teru ground his teeth, grabbed Sawai Manabu's hair, and slammed his face into the table.
Kazawa still didn't stop Xingchuan Hui and continued, "I'm afraid you don't know—the reason for this rapid hypnotic effect is because it's a new type of sedative that directly targets the nerves. Due to its unique ingredients, it's highly addictive and only used in hospice care by certain medical institutions. In Japan, the annual import doesn't exceed one kilogram, and only a few licensed doctors are allowed to use it. Where did you get this?"
Xingchuan Hui wasn't done venting. He checked the embossed "KA03" on the pill and pressed Sawai Manabu's head further into the mess of soup and food on the table.
Kazawa took the pill from Hoshikawa Teru's hand and gave his wrist a subtle pat of reassurance.
He pinched the oval pill and brought it to Sawai Manabu's mouth. "If you think we're lying... why don't you try it yourself?"
He feigned trying to stuff the pill into Sawai Manabu's mouth.
Sawai Manabu shuddered violently. Despite the sticky mess on his face, he desperately shrank his neck back to escape the approaching hand.
"Kazawa!" Just as everyone stood frozen in shock, Conan rushed forward, leapt up, and hugged Kazawa's arm. "Don't do this! Stop!"
Conan's small weight couldn't stop Kazawa, so he kept moving the pill toward Sawai Manabu's mouth, pressing it against his lips.
"No, no!" Feeling the pill's smooth surface on his lips, Sawai Manabu finally broke down. "I was wrong! Please! Take it away! Take it away!"
Kazawa snorted. "Only now, when it's your turn, do you realize you can't take it?"
Hoshikawa Teru watched coldly as Sawai Manabu cried, his grip not loosening one bit.
Even if Kazawa had actually forced him to eat it, it would've been his own fault.
Only then did Kazawa stop and release the now disheveled, pathetic Sawai Manabu, then gave Xingchuan Teru a look to do the same.
Xingchuan Hui tightened his grip once more, pulling out a few more strands of hair before reluctantly letting go. He shook off his gloves and stepped back.
"Call the police." Kazawa handed the pill to Mouri Kogoro. "The police need to investigate the origin and distribution channel of this drug. We can't interfere with that."
Mouri Kogoro's face was equally grim. As a former detective, he could sense how serious this was. After hearing Kazawa's explanation, his face turned grave.
If this really was a highly controlled, addictive drug, and a college student like Sawai Manabu had access to it, then the implications were far more terrifying than anything he wanted to imagine.
Kogoro Mouri's buzz from drinking was completely gone. He glanced at the shocked Mouri Ran, his fingers moving quickly to dial his phone.
Just imagining that such drugs might appear in social gatherings for young people filled him with uncontrollable rage.
"Hello, Inspector Megure? It's me." His voice was low and firm. "Please notify Investigation Section 4. We may have uncovered a large-scale drug smuggling and abuse case."
"President, you had something like that, and you still wanted to..." Uchida Asami gripped her collar tightly, unable to finish her sentence.
"I-I didn't know it was addictive..." Even after being released, Sawai Manabu took several minutes to awkwardly push himself up. "I just thought it was sleeping pills..."
"Even if it was sleeping pills, can you just throw it into someone else's drink?!" Hayasaka Tomoko shouted furiously. She pulled Uchida Asami behind her and glared. "Why would you drug her?!"
"It's a powerful sleeping pill that works quickly," Kazawa added coldly.
Sawai Manabu flinched at his voice, turned to glare, but locked eyes with Hoshikawa Teru's lifeless stare and quickly turned away, swallowing his words.
Hoshikawa Teru now stood behind Kazawa with arms crossed, devoid of the usual Akechi Goro smile. Instead, he looked like the man Kazawa first met—eyes filled with deep, enduring darkness.
"Is this why you insisted I come here?" Xingchuan Hui asked quietly, in a voice only Kazawa could hear.
"Yes. You're the one most familiar with this stuff." Kazawa tilted his head slightly and replied in a low voice. "Well? Have you used this drug before?"
"Maybe an earlier version," Xingchuan Hui replied, his gloved hands clenching tight, veins bulging. "The one I took was called KA01. It was used during brainwashing operations. Once taken, within seconds, you'd feel calm, unresponsive to outside stimuli."
"Addictive?" Kazawa frowned.
"Yes." Xingchuan Hui didn't elaborate, only gave the blunt summary: "It destroys emotional regulation. I don't know the exact mechanics, but once the drug wears off, the emotions explode—laughing, crying, completely unstable, like a madman."
"...I see." Kazawa didn't probe further and murmured to himself, "'KA'… Karasawa Akira? What a disgusting name."
Meanwhile, Sawai Manabu's shouting grew louder: "I didn't mean to hurt you, Asami! You have to believe me!"
"That's the most ridiculous excuse I've ever heard!" Uchida Asami grabbed Hayasaka Tomoko's sleeve, yelling in despair. "You're a playboy! You've already had three girlfriends this month! Is it unreasonable for me to reject you?!"
"But you're still hung up on that junior, Kudo!" Sawai Manabu's face darkened, twisted with frustration. "Oh, and he didn't even show up. Typical. A woman like you just strings people along. Only trash like me would—"
Bang!
A crisp impact rang out.
Kazawa, lost in thought, looked up.
Mouri Ran had raised her hand and slammed a plate of food into Sawai Manabu's face.
The plate cracked on his gold-rimmed glasses.
His glasses shattered like spider webs. His eyes rolled up as he slumped into the pile of cups and dishes, unconscious.
"Disgusting," Mao Lilan said coldly. "What a disgusting man."
"Ran...!" Suzuki Sonoko was wide-eyed. After confirming Sawai Manabu was still breathing, she gently patted her best friend's hand. "Don't throw plates around next time..."
Xiaolan can break doors with her bare hands. When equipped with a blunt weapon, her lethality only increases... It was satisfying, very satisfying. But a guy who dodges blame and breaks the law like this doesn't deserve pity.
"He's too filthy. I didn't want to use my hands." Mao Lilan looked at Sawai Manabu's cream-covered, sauce-splattered face with revulsion.
"Yeah, too dirty," Uchida Asami wiped her tears and said through gritted teeth.
In the aftermath, it was clear all the food and dishes were ruined.
Kazawa had knocked over several cups while subduing Sawai. Sawai then collapsed over half the table. The fight and head-slamming spilled the rest. Mouri Ran's final blow shattered what was left.
Everyone now stood awkwardly a few steps back, quietly staring at the destroyed table—wine and drinks spilled everywhere, soup dripping to the floor.
Amidst the chaos, whether by chance or fate, the wine bottles on the table had all fallen over like bowling pins.
Only the bottle of after-dinner wine, Kummer, set aside earlier by Sawai Manabu, remained standing in the center of the table. The clear liquor reflected the fragmented glow of the chandelier above, spilling light across Sawai Manabu's unconscious face.
Conan stared at the still-standing wine bottle grimly, fists clenched.
A strictly controlled drug. Addictive. Sedative. Paralyzing...
Could this all be connected to the organization?
Kummer...