With the case concluded, Suwa, who had treated the katana as his faith, had ultimately destroyed everything with his own hands.
The moment he swung that sword at Denjiro, there was no turning back. He no longer had the right to use his swordsmanship to guide aspiring kendo practitioners.
As Ritsu opened the car door and prepared to get in, he noticed Ran standing nearby with a hesitant expression, as though she wanted to say something.
He could roughly guess what she wanted to ask and held onto the door as he said,
"Mouri-san, is there something you need?"
"Actually..." Ran clasped her hands tightly together. Hope filled her eyes as she looked at him. "I wanted to ask... has Shinichi contacted you? Or did he ever mention where he was planning to go?"
Unfortunately, Ritsu couldn't give her the answer she wanted.
Feigning confusion, he asked, "Kudo? Why do you ask? Did something happen?"
Hearing that response, Ran's eyebrows drooped in worry.
"Onizawa-san, yesterday Shinichi and I went to Tropical Land, and a case happened there. After solving it, he suddenly said he had something to do and ran off.
Ever since then, he's completely disappeared. I can't even reach him by phone."
'Of course you can't.'
The phone had been destroyed by Gin long ago. After all, it contained the video Shinichi had recorded of the transaction.
"He disappeared without any explanation?"
"Yes. It's already been twenty-four hours. Am I allowed to file a missing-person report?"
Seeing how worried Ran was, Conan lowered his head in frustration. His hatred toward the men in black deepened even further.
If that man hadn't forced that strange drug down his throat, none of this would've happened.
No.
Did he even have the right to hate them? Wasn't it his own curiosity and sense of justice that had brought this upon himself?
Besides, if he hadn't taken that drug, he probably would've been shot dead by the other man.
Someone capable of creating a drug like that could probably evade ordinary police officers with ease.
Conan recalled the eyes of the man he'd seen.
Eyes that looked as though they had already witnessed countless deaths. Killing every police officer to silence them felt entirely in character for someone like that.
For the first time, he felt a trace of regret.
If he hadn't stuck his nose into someone else's business, he wouldn't have become an elementary school student.
And Ran wouldn't be making that expression now...
Damn it.
How could he be thinking like this?
"Mouri-san, I'll continue keeping an eye out for Kudo."
Ritsu rarely offered words of comfort, but this time he did.
"Don't worry. Kudo is a smart young man with a strong sense of justice. I'm sure there's a reason for his disappearance. For all we know, he may have gotten tangled up in some complicated case."
He deliberately crouched down and looked at the dejected Conan. Patting the boy on the head, he smiled.
"Conan-kun, make sure you help that big brother Shinichi protect Mouri-san, okay?"
Ran couldn't help laughing.
"Onizawa-san, what are you talking about~? Conan's still just a child. How is he supposed to protect me?"
"Don't underestimate me, Ran-neesan! I-I'm a man too!"
To cheer Ran up, Conan put his acting skills to work. With his hands on his hips and legs spread apart, he struck a heroic pose that looked genuinely adorable.
If Ritsu hadn't already known his true identity, he might actually have been fooled by the performance.
"Yes, yes~ I'll gladly accept the sentiment."
Ran knew they were trying to comfort her. Finally smiling again, she said,
"Then I'll leave Shinichi's situation in your hands, Onizawa-san. Dad, let's go."
Kogoro originally wanted to say something, but after thinking it over, he swallowed the words.
Although he disliked how that kid was always dragging his daughter around, he actually thought quite highly of him.
As a fellow man, he could tell whether that young detective's feelings toward his daughter were genuine or not.
After watching the three of them leave, Ritsu climbed into the car and muttered,
"What a terrible Christmas."
"Hm?" Takagi started the engine and asked, "Inspector, did your girlfriend get angry because you're working overtime?"
He grinned. "Need me to call and help explain things?"
"Eh?"
Ritsu froze for half a second before remembering the lie he'd told about spending Christmas with a girlfriend.
Smiling awkwardly, he replied, "No need. I just think having to work during a holiday is terrible. My girlfriend isn't angry."
Besides...
Having Takagi call and explain would be a disaster.
It wasn't as though he could ask Vermouth to pretend to be his girlfriend. Sure, she could imitate practically any voice, but asking her for a favor would only hand her leverage over him.
And life afterward would become very unfortunate.
When they arrived at the luxury apartment building in Mita 5-Chome, Ritsu stepped out of the car. Before closing the door, he bent down and reminded Takagi,
"Drive safely on your way back. And Merry Christmas."
"Thank you, Inspector! Merry Christmas to you and your girlfriend too!"
Takagi watched Ritsu enter the building before starting the car and heading home.
After stopping at a red light near a three-way intersection, he finally noticed a paper gift bag sitting beneath the passenger seat.
'Wasn't that the bag the Inspector had been carrying after work? Don't tell me he accidentally left his girlfriend's Christmas present behind?'
Takagi immediately pulled over and called Onizawa.
"Hello? Inspector, you left your girlfriend's present in my car. Can you come downstairs? I'll bring it to you."
Having just finished washing his hands after using the restroom, Ritsu tapped the speakerphone button with still-damp fingers.
"That's not a gift for my girlfriend. It's for you."
"Huh? For me?"
Takagi blinked in confusion.
"But... I didn't see you giving presents to Hayasaka-san or the others."
"Come on. Those two are the famous beauties of the MPD. If I gave them presents, it wouldn't just make my girlfriend jealous, the male officers who have their eyes on them would throw me into Tokyo Bay and feed me to the fish."
Then he paused dramatically. "Ah... my girlfriend's calling me. Gotta go!"
The call disconnected.
Takagi suddenly felt that the Inspector's logic made perfect sense.
To be honest, he'd wanted to buy a gift for Miwako too... But her excellence made him feel inferior.
He hadn't even managed to say the simple words, Merry Christmas.
"Man... I'm hopeless."
Looking at the gift bag in his hands, he opened it and found an expensive-looking custom-made necktie.
It was even his favorite color: dark blue.
The Inspector had actually put thought into this. Did this mean the Inspector acknowledged him as his apprentice too?
Just like Kudo.
"Hm? A card?"
Takagi noticed a small card tucked inside.
After pulling it out and reading the message, his face instantly turned red.
Wishing you success in helping Miwako change her last name soon.
—Your backup, Onizawa
...
Meanwhile,
The "backup" in question had already shed his disguise and returned to being Augier.
He stood in his apartment, frowning at the more than twenty different flavors of instant noodles spread across the living room table.
"What should I eat?"
He glanced at the shark. "Gingerbread, why don't you pick one for me?"
The moment he said it, he nearly laughed at himself. He was so bored that he was talking to a shark.
Then he remembered,
"Didn't we agree last night to buy KFC fried chicken and spend the night drinking beer in the apartment?"
Christmas.
KFC fried chicken.
He stood up, put all the instant noodles back where they belonged, then opened the freezer and rummaged around.
After a while, he pulled out a bag of pre-made Japanese-style karaage chicken.
No KFC fried chicken?
'Well, this could serve as a substitute. It would still count as celebrating Christmas, right?'
Ten minutes later...
With a blank expression, Ritsu placed a charred black mass into an evidence bag, sealed it, and tossed it into the food-waste bin.
Five minutes later...
Holding a cup of instant kitsune udon, Ritsu took a sip of the broth.
"...Yeah. This suits me much better."