To this day, he still regrets leaving her behind. For Shuichi Akai, Akemi Miyano was undoubtedly the love of his life; his feelings for her were nothing but pure.
Initially, he used their relationship as a cover to infiltrate the Organization. However, faced with her iron will and those beautiful eyes, Akai had to confront his own love. The guilt of deceiving her became a constant, gnawing pain in his chest. In the world of espionage, falling in love during a deep-cover assignment is an objective failure.
At one point, he considered taking her and her sister with him when he eventually left the Organization. But when his identity as an FBI agent was blown and he had to flee, such a luxury vanished. He focused entirely on surviving the hailstorm of gunfire and eluding his pursuers. He justified it to himself that way, leaving her behind. Regardless of the reason, he had made her a secondary priority. Furthermore, he optimisticly assumed the Organization wouldn't eliminate Akemi so quickly, given her sister's high-ranking position.
Then, a single video file reached his FBI colleagues. The footage began with a man's smile—a fake, hollow expression that looked pasted onto his face, devoid of warmth or humanity. It was a monster in human skin, a smiling freak mocking them.
"Do you hear me, Shuichi Akai?" the voice said. "This is the Organization's punishment—a lesson to be learned. Watch closely."
The monster then displayed its razor-sharp weapon, the "Claw" developed by the Organization. He approached the paralyzed Akemi Miyano, laughing as he toyed with her, carving a single gash into her chest. After subjecting her to a brutal humiliation, he tore out her heart. With a face twisted in ecstasy, the monster crushed the evidence of Akemi's life in his bare hands.
The gasps, screams, and curses of his colleagues watching the file rang discordantly in his ears. Waves of isolation and regret washed over him as if he were suddenly alone in the world. Anger, hatred, despair, and a burning grief seared his insides. It had happened again—just like with Scotch. He wondered if he could have saved them from "The Wolf" had he been more capable. The lives lost before his eyes weighed heavily on his soul.
Akai's greatest strength was his stoicism, yet it was precisely this quality that allowed his self-reproach to fester in secret. He could no longer allow this man-eating beast to roam free. The decision was final.
He saw him again while riding a highway bus to keep an eye on Jodie, who had begun her own rogue pursuit of the Organization. "The Wolf" was there, masterfully concealing his predatory nature, smiling happily among innocent children. Akai felt a mix of rage and dread as he watched the man play the role of a gentle, obedient pet. He looked perfectly innocent, yet he was a lethal predator who would slaughter those children with those same hands if ordered. Seeing such a creature wandering freely felt like a grave threat.
When they disembarked, Akai felt a flash of genuine concern for the boy who ran up to the man during the questioning. Had the boy been taken hostage, Akai would have been paralyzed. From a distance, he observed that "The Wolf" now operated within a group of elementary schoolers. He was a wolf hidden among the flock, ready to tear the house down and devour the children at any moment. That was how Akai saw him—and likely, that was the truth.
He resolved to end him right then and there—for the children, and for Jodie, who had approached the man unprotected. His preparation was meticulous: the location, the rifle maintenance, his physical condition. Everything was perfect. When he heard Kogoro Mouri was the target, he expected a contest between "The Wolf" and snipers like Chianti, but it fell within his predictions.
The wind died down. He had no spotter, but in this weather, it didn't matter.
His first shot destroyed the transmitter the brilliant boy, Conan Edogawa, had accidentally left behind. A pinpoint strike. The bug and the gum turned to ash. Without a second's delay, he fired again. He aimed for the brain stem. It was a difficult shot, as a bullet could easily ricochet off the skull, but to Shuichi Akai, that meant nothing. He aimed, focused, and became a machine, controlling his breath and reading every heartbeat.
He pulled the trigger.
The Wolf dodged the bullet with a fluid motion. He looked toward Akai and smiled, as if he had anticipated the shot.
"Damn it!"
The curse escaped Akai's lips. That round should have hit. It was a certain kill. Yet the man had sensed Akai's killing intent with a savage instinct and evaded it as if he could see the future. In the fleeting moment their eyes met, The Wolf was smiling. It was an elegant, condescending smirk—the look of someone humoring a pet. He was mocking Akai, like a parent humoring a whining child: What a good boy, trying so hard even though it's useless. Akai ground his teeth. I will kill that man. Without fail.
After retreating to a safe zone, the cigarette between his lips tasted incredibly bitter. Jodie, who had followed him, stepped out of a taxi and rushed toward him.
"Wait, Shu! What were you doing in the middle of the city?!"
"...And what were you thinking, Jodie, approaching The Wolf so recklessly?"
"It was a coincidence. I didn't think he'd be in the "Cool Kid's" car!"
"If you get killed, that's the end. He's a monster who enjoys tearing women and children apart. If you get too close, you won't survive."
Jodie fell silent, uncharacteristically looking away. "Is he really "The Wolf"?"
"What do you mean?"
"He just didn't seem like it. He looked like an ordinary young man—polite and kind."
"That's exactly it. He'll tear your guts out with a gentle face and kill you as if he were doing a neighborly favor. That's the kind of monster he is."
Having failed to fully convince a skeptical Jodie, Akai took a deep drag of his bitter cigarette. Back when he worked undercover as "Rye," Akai himself knew how pleasant and kind the man could be. In fact, being in his company was comfortable. He possessed a conversational ease and efficiency that almost made Akai want to keep working with him even after the Organization fell.
He exhaled, the smoke mixing with his breath. Was this irritation in his throat really from the cigarette? Akai stared toward the Mouri Detective Agency, lost in thought.
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