Detective Conan: The System Takes Me to Zero's World

"Rum pattern!" Kudo Yuki clutched the hamster's fur tightly. She glanced at Amuro Tooru, who was tidying up the incubator, and seeing he wasn't paying attention, she leaned closer to the hamster's ear and asked, "Are you sure it's that pattern?"

The little mouse traced the outline of the pattern in her palm with its chubby little paws: "No mistake! I remember the pattern on that glove very clearly, it matches the lines that Rumi Wakasa drew in her notebook!"

Kudo Yuki's heart sank: [The truth of the Haneda Koji case has been pieced together through a chain of evidence, and the identity of the murderer has long been confirmed, but the trial is stuck on the fact that the "distillery" has not been destroyed. But now, the man in black colluding with Representative Saeki has a rum pattern drawn by Wakasa Rumi on his glove—the connection between the political "protective umbrella" and the distillery is closer than previously suspected.]

"Xiaoxue? What's wrong?" Amuro Tooru finished tidying up the incubator, turned around and saw Kudo Yuki's serious expression. He quickly walked over, his gaze falling on the hamster in her arms. "Did the hamster discover something again?"

Kudo Yuki looked up at him and handed the mouse forward.

"I just remembered that I once saw Representative Saeki and a man in black handing something to each other in front of the police station. The man in black had a rum pattern on his gloves."

Amuro Tooru's face instantly darkened. He reached out and stroked the little mouse's head, saying seriously, "Little mouse, think carefully again. Besides the pattern on the gloves, are there any other details? For example, the height and voice of the man in black, or what he said when he handed you the item?"

The little mouse's ears drooped down: "They were a bit far away at the time, so I couldn't hear what they were saying. But the person was taller than Saeki, had short hair, and looked particularly cold. Her shoulders were slightly sloping when she walked, but I didn't notice at the time. She had a very faint rose scent on her."

Kudo Yuki paused, looking at the mouse: "Rose scent? Are you sure it smells like roses, and not some other floral scent?"

Mouse clung to her clothes, recalling, "It was a very faint scent! Like roses just taken out of the refrigerated display case in a flower shop, not the artificial fragrance sold on the street. It dissipated with the slightest breeze, and I even sniffed it several times while clinging to the police station railing. I'm sure I remember correctly!"

Amuro Tooru's brows furrowed instantly: [The scent of roses, the sloping shoulders, the gloves with the rum pattern... these features combined suggest that only that woman, who always uses disguise to conceal her presence, could do this.]

He looked at Kudo Yuki and murmured, "It's Vermouth. She's the only one in the organization who uses rose-scented perfume and is skilled at disguise and changing her appearance."

Kudo Yuki paused, her fingers pausing: [Vermouth? Why would she contact Councilor Saeki privately? Was it at the old man's behest, or does she have ulterior motives?]

She carried the mouse to a window seat and sat down, her gaze sweeping across the street outside. "She's always been secretive; perhaps she's passing on a message for Rum. Rum is being watched by the old man right now, so he won't act so openly."

The little mouse perched on her lap, its chubby paws gripping the tablecloth: "But isn't she on your side, Xiaoxue? Why is she helping the bad guy?"

“Her position is complicated.” Amuro Tooru pulled out a chair and sat down. “She is the granddaughter of Karasuma Renya. She wants to overthrow the organization, but she can’t escape the ties of blood. Perhaps she was forced to accept this mission, or perhaps she is testing something.”

He suddenly remembered the encrypted email Vermouth sent last night, which contained only the sentence "Rum's pieces have moved, watch out for Saeki." He hadn't thought about it carefully at the time and had gone off to do other things, but now he finally understood the gist of it.

The two people and the mouse were talking in hushed tones.

Kudo Yuki's phone vibrated, the screen displaying the encrypted number exclusive to "Fine Wine". She got up and went to the kitchen to answer the phone: "What is it?"

Vermouth chuckled lazily, "You saw about Representative Saeki's matter? Rum just asked me to pass on a 'ES Dark Amber' equipment debugging list, don't overthink it."

"Did you give the list to the elderly?" Kudo Yuki deliberately emphasized the words "elderly" to observe the other party's reaction.

Vermouth's laughter stopped: "Of course, after all, I only take orders from that lord. By the way, it seems Gin has discovered the bugging issue, so be careful when you're communicating with him lately."

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

Kudo Yuki's expression was complicated: "It was Vermouth. She said she was just handing over the list for Rum, but she specifically mentioned that Gin discovered the bugging device."

Amuro Tooru's gaze deepened: "She's trying to be friendly, to let us know she hasn't completely sided with Rum. It seems Karasuma Renya's suspicion of Rum has already caused widespread unease within the organization."

Enomoto Azusa walked over with two cups of warm lemonade and handed them to the two of them: "Boss, Mr. Amuro, we just baked a batch of matcha wagashi and will bring them over later. The taiyaki will take another ten minutes. I reserved two kinds of fillings: red bean and cream."

Upon hearing "matcha wagashi," the mouse instantly forgot its worries: "Is it the one with cherry blossom filling from last time? I remember it also had a crispy outer shell! Xiaoxue, I want to eat wagashi first, then taiyaki!"

Kudo Yuki smiled slightly and looked up at Amuro Tooru: "That's perfect, Rat... I also really wanted to eat the matcha wagashi from last time. I didn't expect Enomoto to remember."

She almost blurted out the mouse's name, but stopped herself in time.

Amuro Tooru didn't point out her slight pause, but continued, "It's probably because you said it was delicious last time, so you made a special note of it. By the way, Kazami just sent a message saying that Matsumoto Kenta has been sent to Superintendent Kuroda, and Ozaki Yuichi's evidence has been preliminarily checked and there are no problems. The arrest warrant should be approved smoothly tonight."

He took his phone out of his pocket, brought up the message interface sent by Kazami, and pushed it in front of Kudo Yuki.

The screen clearly stated, "The chain of evidence is complete and can cover the core members of the Mud Conference," and was accompanied by a photo of Kenta Matsumoto cooperating with the investigation in his office.

The mouse leaned close to the screen, its little nose almost touching the glass, and whispered, "Is this the person who hid the evidence? He doesn't look fierce at all."

Kudo Yuki tapped the screen and said to Amuro Tooru, "He must have been threatened by the Mud Ginseng Association before, otherwise, given his personality, he wouldn't have helped them hide the evidence."

Amuro Tooru picked up a piece of wagashi and put it in his mouth. The fragrance of matcha spread on his tongue. He deliberately slowed down his speech and said, "It tastes really good, a little sweeter than last time." He knew that the mouse liked sweet things. This question seemed to be directed at Kudo Yuki, or perhaps he was going along with her wishes and giving the mouse a chance to "agree".

The little mouse nodded in her arms, its voice full of satisfaction: "It tastes better when it's sweeter! Little Xue, hurry up! This crispy shell is so delicious!"

Kudo Yuki took a bite of the fruit, the slight bitterness of the matcha and the sweetness of the cherry blossom filling blending in her mouth. Looking at the smile in Amuro Tooru's eyes across from her, she suddenly felt that even if she had to face an unknown threat like the Karasuma Group, as long as he and the mouse were by her side, it didn't seem so scary.

Meanwhile, the little mouse nestled in Kudo Yuki's arms was holding half a wagashi (Japanese sweet), its little mouth bulging as it ate, completely unaware that Amuro Tooru's gaze would occasionally fall on her arm, carrying a knowing tenderness.

At the Mouri Detective Agency, Conan repeatedly zoomed in on a news photo on his phone screen. The photo showed Mary Akai and Masumi Sera surrounded by Representative Kondo. He stood up, phone in hand, and rushed downstairs without even grabbing his coat.

Ran Mouri had just stepped out of the kitchen with a fruit platter when she caught a glimpse of a small figure rushing past: "Conan! Where are you going?"

"Let's go to Poirot Cafe! To ask Sister Xiaoxue about something!" Conan's voice came from the corner of the stairs, his footsteps thumping loudly.

He had heard it from Ran Mouri's older sister several times before—that his sister lived with Mr. Amuro, and even had two spare keys for Poirot. Whenever Mr. Amuro was on the night shift, Yuki Kudo would always leave a light on.

Pushing open the glass door of Poirot Cafe, the wind chimes tinkled.

Conan immediately spotted Kudo Yuki handing half a matcha wagashi to Amuro Tooru from the window seat: "Mr. Amuro, you're stealing my sister's wagashi again! Next time I'm going to eat all the cherry blossom filling!"

Amuro Tooru's ears twitched slightly. He looked up at the doorway first, the smile in his eyes fading slightly. He pushed the fruit back into Kudo's snow plate: "Conan? What brings you here all of a sudden?"

Conan stepped onto a high stool and shuffled to the table, slamming his little fist, which was holding his phone, onto the table with a "thud".

He looked up at Kudo Yuki, his eyes behind his glasses filled with urgency: "Yuki-nee! Look at this! In the report about Representative Kondo and Muddy's meeting, there's Sera-nee and her mother!"

He tapped the corner of the photo on the screen with his fingertip.

There was a petite girl hiding there, whose features resembled Sera's by about 70%. "Sera said before that she had been hiding a photo she didn't want to be exposed, which was of her mother as a teenager! But this photo is so clear, why hasn't it been released yet?"

Conan frowned, his little mind racing: "If it wasn't Representative Kondo or Mr. Domoto who pressured them, then who was behind it? Were they doing this to protect Sera's mother, or did they have some other purpose?"

Kudo Yuki took a bite of the wagashi and put down her fork.

"This photo wasn't released because the head of the Ooka family suppressed it. This morning, I had the head of the Ooka family use the top trending topics of 'overseas energy cooperation signing' and 'transnational fraud case cracked' to specifically have Mr. Iori check all related reports and remove all photos containing these two people."

Conan's glasses reflected the light, and his little brows furrowed even more: "The former Prime Minister's Ooka family? But why are they helping Sera and her mother? Yuki-neechan, do you have this relationship with the head of the Ooka family?"

He suddenly remembered what Ran Mouri had said that morning, and lowered his voice, "Ran said...you and Mr. Amuro are living together now?"

Amuro Tooru was pouring lemonade for the two of them when he heard this. His fingers paused for a moment, and when he looked up, a smile appeared in his eyes. He pushed the glass of water in front of Conan.

"The news spreads quickly, but let me answer your question first. The reason the Ooka family removed the photos is because of Ms. Mary Akai's special status. MI6 had given them instructions not to expose her to the public eye."

He didn't directly admit to living together, but he reached out and brushed the matcha powder off Kudo Yuki's lips, the action as natural as if he had done it a thousand times.

The little mouse peeked out from Kudo Yuki's arms and muttered, "They're obviously living together! If Amuro Tooru is cooking soft-boiled eggs for a midnight snack in the kitchen, he's not planning to ruin two of them before he succeeds, is he?"

Amuro Tooru clearly heard what the mouse said, but only raised an eyebrow slightly and brought the topic back to the photo: "As for why the photo is so clear, it's probably because reporter Ogasawara was afraid that his life would be threatened, so he asked his friend, reporter Matsumoto Kenta, to publish this report if he went missing, so that he could save his life."

Conan's cheeks flushed instantly, his fingers tightened slightly as he gripped his phone. His gaze swept over Amuro Tooru's brush against Kudo Yuki's lips and over the atmosphere between them before he muttered softly, "I... I just overheard Ran mention it casually..."

Before she could finish speaking, Kudo Yuki handed her matcha and sweets, silencing her.

“Eat something first,” Kudo Yuki said with a smile in her eyes, tapping his phone screen lightly with her fingertips. “You don’t need to worry about the photos. The head of the Ooka family has withdrawn completely, and Sera and Aunt Mary will not be disturbed. Moreover, Mr. Tsutomu has also given instructions that MI6 will be monitoring the situation.”

Amuro Tooru placed a freshly warmed milk in front of Conan and teased, "If you're curious about living together, why don't you ask Yuki what she wants to eat tonight? I'm in charge of cooking now."

His words were pointed, neither denying nor admitting, but they made Conan's ears turn even redder.

Conan, with half a mouthful of wagashi in his mouth and his cheeks puffed out, stared at Amuro Tooru's actions, clutching his phone and shrinking back, trying to change the subject, but was interrupted by the hot milk that Kudo Yuki handed him.

The rim of the cup was still covered with a ring of dense milk foam, clearly cooked by Amuro Tooru to his preferred texture.

"Drink your milk first, it won't taste good if it gets cold." Kudo Yuki lightly tapped her younger brother's forehead with her fingertip, a smile hidden in her eyes. "What's there to be shy about about living together? If you come over often in the future, you can even get some late-night snacks made by Amuro."

Amuro Tooru was wiping matcha powder off the corner of the table with a tissue when he heard this. He looked up at Conan and said in a teasing tone, "But next time you should tell me in advance, so that when I cook soft-boiled eggs, no one will eat the extra two."

This was clearly a response to what the mouse had just muttered.

The mouse wagged its tail in Kudo Yuki's arms and complained, "Amuro Tooru is just pretending to be cool!"

Amuro Tooru's smile deepened, as if he hadn't heard anything.

Conan gulped down a mouthful of milk, his eyes behind his glasses instantly turning serious: "Sister Yuki, Mr. Amuro, what's the real reason behind the pressure from the head of the Ooka family?"

Amuro Tooru's gaze swept over Conan's tense little face, and his tone became a bit more serious: "The head of the Ooka family is taking action, ostensibly to do MI6 a favor, but in reality, he is investigating clues about the 'ES Dark Amber' project."

Kudo Yuki added, "If Akai Mary's identity is exposed, Rum might take direct action against her. The head of the Ooka family suppressed the photos to help keep Rum's attention and prevent him from disrupting our plans prematurely."

Conan tightened his grip on his phone, his eyes behind his glasses lighting up: "So the Ooka family is actually keeping an eye on the Karasuma Group for us? Have they found out anything about the progress of the 'ES Dark Amber' project?"

To be continued...