BWDC:SDDK Chapter 10: A Girl Resembling Masami Hirota?
The vehicle slowly rolled out of Professor Agasa's Research Institute, moving toward the Kudo residence.
Sitting in the car, Conan turned back with an uneasy expression, glancing at the still-lit windows of the institute.
Then, he crossed his arms and threw himself back against the seat cushions, speaking with a trace of sullenness.
"Professor, how could you trust him just like that?"
"His story was clearly just a deceptive sales pitch. Is it really okay to leave him alone in the institute?"
Though, to be fair, there wasn't exactly anything in the Professor's lab worth stealing...
"Ah? Shinichi, why would I leave him alone in the institute?"
Professor Agasa's expression turned solemn.
Just as Conan thought the Professor was about to deliver some profound reasoning, he saw him smile cheerfully.
"It's so late, I told him to stay in the guest room at my house for the night. Staying in the lab would be far too uncomfortable."
Conan: ? Huh? Staying in your guest room? I've known you for so long, and I don't even know where your house is! The little detective's eyes narrowed slightly, casting a look of disapproval.
"Professor Agasa, where is your house? Isn't that dangerous?"
Hearing this, Agasa looked curiously into the rearview mirror at Conan before answering,
"Eh? Don't I just live in the Research Institute?"
"Do you really need to ask such an obvious question?"
Ah, right... I was so frustrated by that "godly" person that I forgot something so basic.
Conan was silenced by his own lapse.
Thinking about it, he realized he had never actually sent a New Year's card to Professor Agasa before; otherwise, he wouldn't have forgotten even if he were fuming.
Behind them, the Research Institute completely vanished from sight.
Leaning against the back seat, Conan felt a wave of exhaustion. He curled up on his side like a cat, yawning while looking up at the colorful neon signs atop the buildings.
After a long while, Conan asked tiredly, "Professor, do you really believe what that man said?"
"That a member of that criminal organization with the code name Sherry actually exists and is developing an antidote?"
He didn't believe Ren Ichimonji's words.
Not a single bit.
Transmigrators? Bat-Mite? He didn't understand any of it.
He simply felt... that guy definitely had some information channel he didn't know about, and he just hadn't been able to pry it out of him yet.
"I believe it. Why wouldn't I?"
Professor Agasa answered lightheartedly.
He added optimistically,
"How did that saying go? Because, I'm Batman!"
"Well, anyway, he doesn't seem like a bad person."
Not a bad person?
Conan gripped the handle and sat up straight, staring dissatisfactorily at the back of Agasa's head.
Honestly, the Professor was always too quick to trust others.
Can someone really gain trust just by acting like a mystic and saying things that are impossible to verify?
He was about to say something more when the Kudo residence came into view.
Noticing the house as well, Professor Agasa asked,
"Shinichi, do you really want to stay there alone tonight?"
The car began to decelerate.
In the back seat, Conan prepared to disembark.
"I want to be alone for a bit to clear my head and organize my thoughts..."
As soon as the vehicle came to a full stop, the "Grim Reaper" schoolboy couldn't wait to push the door open.
He waved goodbye to Professor Agasa, then suddenly realized he was acting more and more like an actual elementary student. He quickly pulled his hand back and glanced left and right. Only after confirming no acquaintances were nearby did he breathe a sigh of relief.
It would be too embarrassing if someone he knew saw that.
Even though his acquaintances probably wouldn't recognize him now anyway.
Conan yawned as he walked into the Kudo manor.
Standing on his tiptoes to unlock the door, he went straight to the bedroom after closing it.
Regardless of everything else, he needed to sleep first.
Tomorrow morning, he'd call Professor Agasa to check on the situation. If there was nothing wrong, he'd head straight back to the Mouri Detective Agency.
"Hmm... has Ran been here to clean?"
Conan scanned the bedroom, easily confirming this by the state of the dust.
Well, that was perfect; he could just lie down and sleep—
Outside the window, the sound of a car pulling up echoed, accompanied by the flash of headlights.
The detective, who had just been about to lie down, knit his brows.
He went to the window, gently pinching the edge of the curtain to peek through the gap.
There were cars outside the Kudo residence.
He didn't recognize the license plates, but these cars were definitely headed for his house.
Who could it be?
Conan's brow furrowed deeper.
A group of people dressed in black stepped out of the vehicles.
From the car in the very center—clearly the one being protected—a woman in a white lab coat emerged.
The distance was too great to see clearly; he could only confirm that she had auburn hair.
"...Who are they?"
The boy whispered.
The opponents were too numerous; he couldn't handle them alone.
It seemed his only option for now was to hide and observe the situation...
—No, that woman's face... does she look familiar?
Conan's fingers instinctively pressed against the frame of his plain-glass spectacles.
Even though he wasn't nearsighted, the habit didn't actually help his vision.
"Damn it, tomorrow I'll have the Professor add magnification and analysis functions to these glasses!"
He hissed through gritted teeth.
At that moment, the auburn-haired woman in the lab coat seemed to sense something.
She looked up toward the pitch-black windows of the Kudo manor.
She saw nothing.
However, because of that movement, Conan caught a clear glimpse of her face.
Though it was somewhat blurry, he could say with certainty that he had seen her somewhere before.
—Could it be that woman?
The memory of a case from shortly after he had shrunk surfaced in Conan's mind.
A girl from the countryside had come to the Mouri Detective Agency, hoping Mr. Mouri could help her find her relatives living in Tokyo. In the end, the relative they found was strangled, and she herself was nearly gunned down at the pier.
That girl's name was...
Masami Hirota.
"There's a resemblance, but it's not the same person?"
"A sister...?"
He murmured.
A woman in a white coat who resembled Masami Hirota, visiting his home in the middle of the night.
What was the purpose?
The Kudo residence was quickly breached by the men in black.
The auburn-haired woman in the white coat walked into the room as if performing a routine task.
She casually opened several drawers at the bottom of the wardrobe, then suddenly paused, her brow arching slightly.
Something was strange.
These drawers seemed to hold Kudo Shinichi's clothes arranged by age, but specifically, the clothes from his primary school years were missing. Could it be... someone had taken them?
"Sherry, there are no signs of Kudo Shinichi living here. We can confirm that Kudo Shinichi is deceased."
Another member of the Black Organization responsible for the investigation walked over.
Shiho Miyano calmly slid the drawer back into place, acting as if she didn't care.
"In that case, let's head back."
She had no idea that at this very moment, the shrunken Kudo Shinichi was hiding nearby, staring at her retreating back.
Conan whispered under his breath,
"...Sherry?"
End of Chapter
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