The power of the soul was invisible, intangible.
Shimizu Koji couldn't pinpoint its true nature, but he did have a rough hypothesis.
Perhaps it was because of his promise—because Hosaka Hideaki's lingering obsession had finally been fulfilled—that, at the moment his soul dispersed, Hosaka had passed on his pure soul energy to him?
It was only a guess. Koji couldn't be sure.
But one thing he was certain of—
Hosaka Hideaki's situation was exceedingly rare.
—
Night had fallen completely.
Beika City, Second District.
Turning off a broad, well-lit road and into a dark alley, Conan's expression gradually became strange.
Because this was his neighborhood.
Well… his former home, at least.
But did that little girl really live around here too?
He couldn't recall any family with the surname Haibara living nearby.
Conan was confident in his memory, but he had moved away some time ago. Maybe someone new had moved in.
With both hands behind his head, Conan glanced at the figure ahead of him—Haibara Ai, still walking while quietly wiping away tears—and after a moment's thought, he spoke up.
"Hey. From here on, you can get home by yourself, right?"
Haibara Ai slowly stopped walking.
With her hands behind her back, she turned around to face him.
Conan couldn't see her expression clearly, but he stopped as well.
"APTX-4869."
"Huh?"
"That's the name of the drug you took."
"Ha—what are you talking about? I've never taken anything like that."
"Is that so?" Haibara replied calmly, turning away again.
"But I would never forget that name."
"Because it was a drug the Organization ordered me to create—
and one I personally developed."
She brushed back the hair near her ear and glanced over her shoulder with unmistakable malice.
Conan instinctively took a step back.
What neither of them noticed—
Was that outside the alley, a set of footsteps that should have continued past… suddenly stopped.
Shimizu Koji was a little surprised.
Why was Haibara still outside at this hour? Elementary school kids usually went home around two or three.
And why was Conan here too?
He had heard their conversation—especially Haibara's words.
So he silently halted.
"The Organization… drugs… what are you even saying? You're just a kid—what kind of drug could you make?"
Conan's brain nearly short-circuited.
It wasn't the content—it was Haibara's sudden change in presence and demeanor. It was terrifying.
Haibara stood with her hands behind her back. Her posture was still childlike, almost cute—
But her cold eyes mocked Conan's ignorance.
"I'm the same as you.
I took the drug I created myself. Due to a rare malfunction in the programmed self-destruction of the cells, everything except the nervous system—bones, muscles, organs, even hair—"
"All of my cells regressed to an early stage of human development."
She smiled faintly.
"A mysterious poison, isn't it~?"
At the end of her explanation, she let out a soft hum, a faintly smug smile curling at her lips.
"H-Haibara… could it be—you're—?"
Conan's face drained of color. Even his legs began to tremble.
"I'm not Haibara," she said flatly.
"Sherry—that's my codename. You could say… it's my real name."
Conan's pupils shrank to pinpoints. Cold sweat poured down his forehead.
His mind flashed back to his recent conversation with Shimizu Koji.
Vodka. Gin.
Those black-clad men with alcohol codenames.
"Well?" Haibara said lightly. "Didn't expect that, did you—Kudo Shinichi?"
That final sentence shattered what remained of his composure.
"Y-you're one of them? One of those men in black?!" Conan growled.
Haibara sneered.
"This isn't the time for you to be shocked anymore, great detective."
"Nani?!"
"Did you forget?" she continued calmly.
"I told you where I live—Beika City, Second District, No. 22."
"Right next to your house."
Conan's heart slammed violently.
He immediately pulled out his bowtie voice-changer phone.
"Doctor?! Doctor!! Please answer—!!"
"It's useless," Haibara said softly.
"No matter how many times you call, it'll always be busy."
"As long as the receiver has been taken off the hook, he'll never be able to answer."
"Because—"
"He no longer exists in this world."
She said it as casually as if she were talking about eating or drinking.
And that calmness made Conan's terror even worse.
"According to the Organization's investigation," she continued,
"the only reason you're still alive—and still active as a detective—is because of Professor Agasa."
"So for you…"
"He was your final lifeline."
"Y-you killed him… just because of that?!"
Conan's voice sank low.
Despair clung to him like a shadow.
"Well?" Haibara smiled faintly.
"If you don't believe me, why not go check for yourself?"
Conan shot her a furious look.
She stood there calmly, looking every bit like a well-behaved little girl.
Gritting his teeth, Conan turned and sprinted down the alley toward Professor Agasa's house.
As he passed his own former home, seeing it dark when it should have been lit, his heart sank even further.
Could it be… Shimizu too—?
Behind him, Haibara Ai watched his figure disappear into the darkness, a playful smile curling on her lips.
She rose onto her toes lightly, preparing to follow at a leisurely pace, anticipation flickering in her eyes.
"Sherry?"
A quiet murmur suddenly sounded behind her—without warning.
Haibara froze.
The white glow of the streetlight behind her felt like glacial snow—cold, merciless.
A tall shadow swallowed her small frame.
She shivered involuntarily.
Shimizu Koji stood behind her, blood-red Sharingan eyes open and glowing.
On his way here, he had tested them a few times.
Anyone stared at by those eyes felt discomfort—some more than others.
He could now freely activate the Sharingan, but not for long periods.
He hadn't tested the limit yet, but instinct told him it hadn't increased by much.
Haibara felt her limbs go cold.
That familiar sensation—of being locked onto.
And that voice just now… she hadn't heard it clearly, but it didn't sound like Gin.
"Didn't expect it to be you, Sherry," Koji said quietly.
"Looks like the task the Organization just handed us…"
"I'll be turning it in ahead of schedule."
"And you're pretty good at pretending to be a kid, huh?"
Haibara trembled slightly.
That voice—it was familiar, yet terrifyingly unfamiliar.
Slowly, she turned her head.
Shimizu Koji stood under the pale streetlight, sneering.
If not for the school uniform he was wearing, he might have looked even more frightening.
But even so—
Those words alone were enough to make Haibara's heart race violently.
"Y-you—?!"
To Koji's surprise, after a brief moment of panic, something seemed to click in Haibara's eyes.
She quickly calmed down.
"…I see."
"Then please," she said quietly,
"take me back."