In the sudden absence of gunshot pain, Akemi Miyano's eyes flew open as she abruptly sat up from the ice coffin.
"What's this...?"
"Big Sister!!"
Before Akemi could process anything, her hand was seized by a small one, followed by childish sobbing.
"Huh?"
Akemi blinked dazedly at the tea-haired little girl clinging to her arm and crying.
Though confused, something about the girl's reaction clicked. Hesitantly, she asked:
"Shiho?"
"Congratulations on your return to the living, Miss Akemi Miyano."
Hearing this, Akemi turned to see a handsome young man smiling at her, hands clasped behind his back.
Beside him, a cool-looking girl with deep purple hair was observing her with an odd expression.
"I... wasn't I dead?"
Akemi was thoroughly bewildered, her mind still stuck on the moment before death:
"And what about that young detective..."
As she spoke, she instinctively pulled Ai Haibara into a half-embrace, gently patting her back in a gesture of comfort.
The practised motion, as if performed countless times before, easily soothed Ai Haibara's emotions.
Ai faintly remembered – this was how Akemi used to lull her to sleep when their parents were constantly away during childhood.
The familiarity was so overwhelming that she suddenly found herself unable to cry, instead feeling overwhelmingly sleepy.
Addressing Akemi's question, Luo Shu smiled and said:
"If you mean Conan, he's currently quite safe."
"I see..."
Akemi murmured, then looked down at Ai Haibara in her arms.
She looked.
Then rubbed her eyes with her free hand.
Then looked again.
Ai Haibara immediately deadpanned:
"Still rubbing your eyes? Can't recognise me?"
"You're... Shiho?" Akemi rubbed her eyes again, utterly confused. "Wait, how did you become a child?"
At this, Ai Haibara replied with some embarrassment:
"It's a side effect of a drug!"
She was exasperated!
What should have been a touching sisterly reunion was completely derailed by her sister's slow reaction time – she didn't know whether to laugh or cry anymore.
Akemi Miyano instinctively compared Haibara Ai's height with the image of Shiho Miyano in her mind, then abruptly slapped her own cheek.
"What are you doing?" Ai Haibara immediately reached out to touch Akemi's reddened cheek, torn between anger and amusement. "You're not dreaming, okay?!"
Akemi pressed Ai's hand against her own face, bewildered:
"It really hurts, so I must not be dreaming... but Shiho, how did you become a child?"
At that moment, Touka Kirishima, nearby, couldn't help but mutter, "She seems even dumber than my little brother."
Luo Shu immediately nodded in agreement:
"Probably just struggling to accept reality."
After Ai Haibara's lengthy explanation, Akemi finally accepted the truth.
She had died.
Her younger sister, unable to cope with her death, had taken a poison she herself had developed.
Miraculously, instead of dying, her sister had regressed into childhood.
Using her childlike appearance, she'd escaped the organisation and been adopted by kind people.
Then it turned out these kind people belonged to another organisation - one with resurrection technology.
Shiho had bargained her poison-making skills in exchange for Akemi's revival.
"So all that suffering was pointless?"
Akemi didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"We finally escaped one organisation only to join another - an even more powerful and terrifying one?"
Wasn't that the definition of wasted effort?
Ai looked embarrassed hearing this, though she didn't particularly regret her choice.
Compared to losing her sister, staying in a dangerous criminal organisation seemed bearable - as long as Akemi was safe.
Just as Akemi was caught between laughter and tears, Luo Shu stepped forward with a smile:
"I hate to interrupt your reunion, but Miss Akemi Miyano - might you be interested in working for me?"
Ai immediately glared at Luo Shu with fierce disapproval:
"I'll make your youth-restoring drug! So stay away from my sister!"
Unfazed by the glare, Luo Shu maintained his polite smile:
"Just a reminder for you both."
"A Demigod's services don't come cheap."
"Little Ai alone could never repay even the interest. But if you sisters work together... well, clearing the debt might become possible."
As Ai opened her mouth to protest, Luo Shu calmly added: "I intend to hire Miss Akemi Miyano as your live-in caretaker."
Instantly, Ai's expression transformed. Clutching Akemi's hand, she urged:
"Actually, my debt does seem rather large... please help me, sis!"
Akemi: "???"
'You're making me work to pay off debts right after resurrecting me?'
'And Shiho - wasn't that attitude change a bit too sudden?'
'I'd happily look after you, but not as paid work! And definitely not by selling me out!!'
Battling these thoughts, Akemi hesitated before asking Luo Shu:
"May I ask... how long would we need to work to repay this debt?"
In response, Luo Shu produced two contract scrolls and a pen, smiling:
"Miss Miyano... some things are better left unknown."
Akemi: "..."
'So I'm supposed to take care of Shiho for the rest of my life, is that it?'
'Though I'm very grateful you revived me, I want to die!!'
The joking thought flashed through her mind, but in reality, Akemi Miyano glanced at Shiho Miyano's expectant face—clearly not wanting to be separated from her—and couldn't help but say:
"Let me make this clear upfront: Big Sister can only take care of you until you're 30 at most. After 30—no, preferably before 30—you need to find someone who can look after you for life, understand?"
Ai Haibara smiled upon hearing this, but before the sisters could exchange any heartfelt words, Luo Shu ruined the mood by saying:
"After signing the contract, in principle, the organisation will take care of both of you for life."
"So actually, little Ai doesn't need to find a man at all."
As he finished speaking, Akemi Miyano slowly turned her head and flashed Luo Shu a devilish smile.
Instantly, cold sweat trickled down Luo Shu's forehead.
Wasn't Akemi Miyano's smile supposed to be angelic in the original story?
This demonic grin had nothing to do with angels!
'I just said your sister doesn't need to find a man. Was this reaction really necessary?'
Just then, Luo Shu felt a tap on his shoulder.
Turning his head, he saw Touka Kirishima gesturing for the contract scroll in his hand.
"I'll need to sign this later, too, right? In that case, might as well do it together with Ai."
Hearing this, Luo Shu sized up Touka before handing her a scroll and pen.
He then turned back to face Akemi Miyano and Ai Haibara.
The sisters exchanged glances, smiled simultaneously, and extended their hands towards Luo Shu.
Seeing this, Luo Shu handed over the scroll while muttering under his breath:
"Is this supposed to be a triple combo?"