At the critical moment when Gin pulled the trigger, the bullet went "bang," grazing past Ai Haibara's ear and hitting the wall behind her, kicking up a few fragments.
Ai Haibara was frightened out of her wits by this close brush with death, and her survival instinct overrode everything! She no longer hesitated. Using the last shred of her strength, like a rabbit chased by hounds, she suddenly turned and sprinted for her life into the deeper, darker, and narrower alley opposite Gin and his companion!
At some point, the rain began to drizzle, quickly turning into a cold downpour that lashed mercilessly against her thin frame. Rain blurred her vision, mixing with tears (and perhaps sweat) as it flowed down. She had already lost one of her shoes, and the soles of her feet were scraped raw by the rough ground. Every step brought a piercing pain, but she didn't dare stop. The footsteps behind her, clinging like maggots to a bone, and the threatening growls and curses Gin and Vodka intentionally let out were like death-summoning talismans!
"Stop! Sherry!"
"Don't even think about running!"
"Catch her!"
Gin and Vodka followed unhurriedly behind, like cats toying with prey. They weren't actually chasing her with full effort; they just maintained enough distance to keep Ai Haibara under the pressure of extreme fear. Their task wasn't to catch her immediately, but to drive her to a predetermined location and force her into a corner.
Ai Haibara stumbled through the maze-like alleys. The rain was cold, and her heart was even more bone-chillingly frigid. She didn't know where to flee; she couldn't return to Dr. Agasa's house, and any familiar place could be a trap. She felt like a rootless piece of duckweed, liable to be torn apart and annihilated by the storm at any moment. Loneliness, fear, despair... all sorts of emotions almost swallowed her whole.
Just as her strength was exhausted and her vision went dark, nearly causing her to collapse in the mud, she burst out of the narrow alley onto a relatively open but still deserted street.
And right in the middle of the street, amidst the curtain of rain, a tall and straight figure stood quietly, holding a black umbrella.
Rainwater flowed from the edge of the umbrella into a water curtain, blurring his features, but that unique and heart-stopping aura was one Ai Haibara could never mistake—
It was Kanjuro!
How could he be here?!
Ai Haibara's footsteps came to a sudden halt. She staggered from the abrupt stop, nearly falling. Looking at that handsome yet demon-like face under the umbrella, her heart almost stopped beating. A wolf in front and tigers behind! She had absolutely nowhere left to run!
Kanjuro's gaze pierced through the rain and fell upon her. His eyes were calm and waveless, as if he had long anticipated her arrival, as if all her struggles and flight were merely a performance in the palm of his hand.
At that moment, the "angry" and "urgent" shouts of Gin and Vodka came from the alley behind her. Their acting was exaggerated but enough to scare her out of her mind:
"She's over there! Don't let Sherry get away!"
"Quick! Catch her!"
These shouts were like a final death knell, shattering the last bit of luck in Ai Haibara's heart. Looking at Kanjuro blocking the path ahead and hearing the "pursuers" closing in from behind, a massive sense of despair and powerlessness, like the cold rain, completely submerged her.
She couldn't run anymore, and... she didn't want to run anymore.
She collapsed onto the ground, the muddy water soaking her clothes and the rain washing over her face. She looked up at Kanjuro as he walked toward her step by step, her eyes filled with nothing but dead silence and a resigned numbness.
Kanjuro walked up to her and looked down from above. The black umbrella shielded her from a small patch of the storm but brought an even deeper shadow.
He slowly crouched down and reached out, his fingertips gently brushing the wet, auburn hair stuck to her cheek. The movement carried a tenderness that bordered on pity, forming a cruel contrast to what he was doing.
"See, you have nowhere left to go, Haibara." His voice was exceptionally clear amidst the sound of rain, carrying a fatal allure. "This world hasn't left any place for you to stay."
Ai Haibara stared at him blankly, her lips trembling, but she couldn't make a sound.
Kanjuro smiled slightly and continued in that low voice:
"Except... by my side."
These words were the final straw that broke all of Ai Haibara's resistance. Yes, where else could she go? The Organization was hunting her, the police couldn't possibly trust her, Dr. Agasa was missing, and her sister had long since departed... The entire world truly seemed to have only this demon in front of her who could "protect" her.
Even though she knew this protection was a sugar-coated poison, a deeper hell, in her state of exhaustion and at this dead end, it seemed to be her only choice.
Seeing the completely extinguished light and hollow obedience in Ai Haibara's eyes, Kanjuro knew the timing was right.
He stood up and said indifferently toward the alleyway, "Get lost."
Gin and Vodka acted as if they had received a great pardon (though it was an act). They immediately stopped shouting, respectfully replied with a "Yes, Boss!", and then quickly disappeared into the rain and the shadows of the alley, as if they had never appeared.
Kanjuro looked down again and reached out his hand to Ai Haibara, who was slumped in the mud. His voice carried an irresistible tone:
"Come home with me, Haibara."
Ai Haibara looked at that hand with its distinct joints, a hand that seemed to control life and death, then looked up at Kanjuro's face, which appeared even more profound and inscrutable under the shadow of the umbrella. After a long time, so long that the rain nearly froze her, she finally, extremely slowly and tremblingly, raised her cold and mud-stained hand and placed it in his palm.
She had no strength, and no choice.
Kanjuro gave a gentle pull, lifting her from the mud and drawing her into his arms. He shielded her with the umbrella and turned to walk back the way he had come.
Ai Haibara leaned into his cold embrace and closed her eyes, letting him take her toward an unknown but destined-to-be-dark future. Her flight was over, ending in the most complete and humiliating way. Her soul seemed to flow away at this moment along with the cold rain. Kanjuro carried the soaked, shivering Ai Haibara, walking steadily through the rain. He deliberately withdrew his oppressive aura, and his tone even took on a kind of "concern" that could be called gentle.
"It's okay now," he said softly, his voice sounding somewhat unrealistically mild against the backdrop of the rain. "No one will be able to hunt you like this anymore. I will protect you."
His arms were steady and strong, and his embrace blocked out some of the cold rain, yet it brought another, deeper chill. Ai Haibara leaned stiffly in his arms, neither struggling nor responding, like a porcelain doll that had lost its soul.
Kanjuro continued in that soothing tone, as if stating an indisputable fact: "See, even people like Gin and Vodka can only behave obediently in front of me. They fear me. You should have seen that very clearly, shouldn't you?"
Ai Haibara's eyelashes fluttered slightly. Yes, Gin and Vodka's almost humble submission formed an absurd contrast to their terrifying image in the Organization. This indeed proved that Kanjuro possessed a terrifying power that transcended the Organization.
She slowly lifted her eyelids. Rainwater slid down her cheeks, and her ice-blue eyes held no gratitude or fear, only a nearly frozen calm and inquiry. She looked at Kanjuro's jawline so close at hand and asked in a hoarse but steady voice:
"Why... did they call you 'Boss'?"
This question went straight to the core. Gin and Vodka were core members of the Organization; their calling Kanjuro "Boss" carried a thought-provoking meaning.
Hearing this, Kanjuro laughed softly, his laughter carrying a lazy magnetic quality in the rain. He looked down at the girl in his arms, a flash of appreciation in his eyes, seemingly satisfied that she still maintained her keen sense of observation even in this state.
"They fear me," Kanjuro's reply was nonchalant, as if he were stating the most natural thing in the world. "They fear me to their very bones. So, they are willing to address me in any way that might please me." He paused, skillfully distancing himself from any direct affiliation with the organization. "I am not part of the Black Organization, but they have no choice but to obey my commands. Because the price of defying me is one they cannot afford to pay."
This explanation sounded plausible, perfectly aligning with the absolute power he had displayed.
Ai Haibara listened quietly, her mind racing. Kanjuro's power was undeniable, but the claim of "just passing by" was far too coincidental—so coincidental it was impossible to believe. She recalled the entire escape; Gin and Vodka seemed fierce, yet they never truly went for the kill. It was more like... they were herding her? And the timing of Kanjuro's appearance was so precise... A cold thought began to form in her mind.
She looked up, her gaze as sharp as a blade, as if trying to pierce through Kanjuro's gentle mask to reach the bottomless depths of his heart. Her voice remained raspy, yet it carried an unquestionable calm:
"Was it you... who sent them to hunt me down?"
It wasn't a question, but an accusation that bordered on certainty.
The smile on Kanjuro's face didn't change in the slightest; even the arm holding her didn't stiffen for a second. He met Ai Haibara's all-seeing gaze with a frank and innocent look, even carrying a hint of the helplessness of being misunderstood as he gently shook his head:
"It was not."
His tone was firm, carrying a bewitching sincerity.
"I was just... passing by."
"Seeing you being chased by them, soaked to the bone and looking so pitiful... how could I just stand by and watch?"
He spoke so naturally, so matter-of-factly, as if he truly were just a "kind soul" who happened to be passing by and lent a helping hand.
Ai Haibara stared intently into his eyes, trying to find even the slightest trace of a lie, but she failed. Kanjuro's eyes were as deep as the sea; she could see nothing through them, or rather, he had long since hidden his true self perfectly.
She knew he was lying.
One hundred percent certain.
This "hero saving the damsel" act was a play he had written, directed, and acted in from start to finish! The goal was to crush her final psychological defenses, so that in her despair, she would have no choice but to depend on him, viewing him as her only "salvation."
But what good did knowing the truth do?
Expose him? Would he admit it? No. Resist him? Did she have the ability? Even less so.
A deeper, suffocating chill spread from the bottom of her heart. She wasn't just facing a powerful demon, but an incredibly terrifying existence who played with human hearts in the palm of his hand.. 0
Slowly, incredibly slowly, she lowered her eyes, burying all her emotions, all her insights, all her anger and despair deep behind those icy blue pupils.
She didn't ask further, nor did she argue.
She only gave a soft, barely audible response:
"...Is that so."
Then, she leaned her head back against Kanjuro's cold chest and closed her eyes, as if accepting this "coincidence" and her subsequent fate.
But this silent submission brought Kanjuro more pleasure than any fierce resistance ever could. He knew she didn't believe him, but he knew even better that she had no choice. This despair of clearly seeing through the trick but being powerless to break free was the most delicious fruit he wished to taste.
The rain continued to fall. Holding his newly acquired "trophy"—seemingly submissive but frozen to the core—Kanjuro strolled through the curtain of rain toward his lair filled with darkness and control. Ai Haibara's bone-chilling words, "So you don't deserve to be good to me," stabbed at Kanjuro like a sharp icicle. Her words were full of sarcasm and a determined effort to draw a line, trying to preserve her last bit of pathetic self-respect and sense of control.
However, Kanjuro was not provoked or driven to continue the verbal sparring as she had expected. The moment she spoke those words, an extremely subtle yet unignorable sensation—like a faint electric current—unexpectedly pierced through his habitually cold and silent heart!
His gaze suddenly became as sharp as a hawk's, locking onto Ai Haibara. It was no longer the playful scrutiny or the composure of a controller from before, but an almost tangible inquiry filled with disbelief! The lazy aura around him vanished instantly, replaced by an invisible power that seemed capable of dissecting the soul, silently and completely enveloping Ai Haibara.
Ai Haibara was chilled to the bone by this sudden, intense, and even shocked gaze. She instinctively wanted to retreat, but her body was too stiff to move.
Kanjuro ignored her reaction. With unprecedented precision, his perception delved deep into her body, touching her waves of consciousness, even... sensing that most primordial life breath (Soul Wavelength). This deep-level investigation went far beyond ordinary observation, touching the core code of life itself.
In that very instant—
A scene buried deep in his memories, almost forgotten, suddenly became clear like mist split by a thunderbolt!
It was eighteen years ago, in the underground dormitory of the Sacred Scripture Academy, during that time shrouded in darkness and desire... Among the hundred women he had been involved with, there was a female scientist with a unique temperament, focused on her research—Miyano Elena!
That woman with short brownish-blonde hair and eyes that were gentle yet resilient... the mother of Akemi Miyano and Shiho Miyano!
Back then... it seemed indeed... Kanjuro's pupils suddenly constricted to the limit! The image of Miyano Elena in his mind and the silhouette of this soaked, cold, and stubborn girl in his arms slowly overlapped under the pull of bloodline resonance!
That faint yet incredibly clear resonance and connection originating from the very source of life couldn't be wrong! This was a unique sensation that could only exist between direct blood relatives!
Shiho Miyano... Ai Haibara... 0.5
What flowed through her was not just Miyano Elena's blood... but also his, Kanjuro's blood?!
She was... his daughter?!
This conclusion was like an explosion at the beginning of the universe, booming within his eternally cold consciousness! Even though Kanjuro was long accustomed to controlling everything and seeing through the fickleness of the world, he rarely experienced a momentary lapse of focus and... an indescribable, unprecedentedly complex emotion.
His arms holding Ai Haibara tightened slightly without him realizing it, his knuckles even turning slightly white from the excessive force. His eyes, usually bottomless like a cold pool, were now churning with stormy waves—shock, bewilderment, an extremely faint flicker of emotion he hadn't even noticed... and, following that, an even darker and more twisted possessiveness!
He had been searching for bloodlines left behind; Ayumi's appearance was an unexpected joy, but Ai Haibara... this "Sherry" whom he had always viewed as interesting prey, whom he sought to completely conquer and control, this girl whose desperate struggle he had just been watching coldly... was actually his daughter?!
Fate had played such a... cruel and ironic joke on him!
Ai Haibara clearly felt the violent fluctuations of the aura on Kanjuro that he could barely suppress, as well as the extremely complex shifts in his eyes. She didn't know what had happened, but she instinctively felt a danger stronger than any time before! This danger was no longer just a threat to her life, but a premonition that something more fundamental and terrifying was about to be overturned.
"What... what's wrong with you?" Her voice carried an uncontrollable tremble as she tried to break free from his arms, which had suddenly become like iron pincers.
Kanjuro didn't answer. He continued to stare at her fixedly, as if trying to see through her soul. After several seconds, the churning waves finally subsided, but his gaze became even deeper, even... more terrifying.
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