Conan and Gin are both my brothers, what's wrong with meeting them once?

Conan fell silent.

He was born of light and pursued justice, and had absolutely no liking for someone like Ai Haibara, who came from darkness and even helped the darkness to survive.

The reality is that if he wants to change back and ensure his safety, he has no choice but to coexist with people he completely dislikes...

This feeling left him with a lump in his throat.

Moreover... it was Professor Agasa who decided to take in Ai Haibara, and it was Kazuma Kudo who said he would protect her.

He has no right to interfere with one thing, and he can't control the other either...

After letting out a long sigh, Conan completely lost the will to speak.

Seeing that Conan's emotions had calmed down and he wasn't as agitated as before, Kudo Kazuma looked at Haibara Ai and, unusually sincerely, expressed his other thought.

"Actually, personally, I'm quite grateful to her."

"Thank her for what? Thank her for making a deadly poison?" Conan frowned, staring at his bratty younger brother. What nonsense was he spouting?

Ai Haibara looked at Kazuma Kudo with a hint of doubt—this was the second time he had expressed his gratitude.

Kudo Kazuma glared at Conan speechlessly: "What are you thanking me for? When you saw those two men in black, you must have just rushed in recklessly, right? If it weren't for that drug that accidentally turned you into a child, where do you think you would be right now?"

"Don't forget Professor Oyama, who mysteriously disappeared during the ski resort incident—that old man's case is still unsolved!"

"You don't think that organization can't kill you silently, do you?"

"No matter how powerful you were in life, Shinichi Kudo, after your death you'll just be an unsolved mystery. Even if the cause of death is eventually found out, it will only be your father who leads the fight against the organization to avenge you, right?"

"The drugs Ai created did kill quite a few people, even if they were forced to, she wasn't innocent. Those who died because of it certainly had reason to blame her, but that doesn't include you!"

"From your personal perspective, at least you survived. Otherwise, if Gin had used a different method to kill you..."

He doesn't force Conan to thank Ai, who indirectly caused his situation, but he is personally grateful to her.

From the day he learned that Shinichi Kudo's transformation into Conan was irreversible, he felt a sense of gratitude towards Sherry, who created 4869.

If Gin hadn't given Shinichi the drug that day, causing him to unexpectedly turn into a primary school student, but instead had simply snapped his neck, Shinichi would find it hard to imagine what he would have done.

It's true that he initially infiltrated the organization purely to collect spirit souls, and it's fine for him to occasionally act as an undercover agent and leak information to the Red Team. It's even possible for him to destroy the organization someday, since he has no feelings for the organization itself.

When he first joined the organization, in his eyes, the organization and its members were just tools to enhance his strength and steal spiritual essence.

However, the ten years he spent with Gin were not a lie.

Even though Gin is a bit brainless and sometimes treats him terribly, he's not stupid. Doesn't he know whether Gin has feelings for him or not?

Moreover, in his eyes, Gin is both a father and a brother, and his status in his heart is no less than that of Conan, his unlucky older brother.

So in this respect, he was grateful to Sherry for making Drug A—it truly saved him from the possibility of losing two loved ones in this world at the same time.

Seeing that Kudo Kazuma was staring at him and hadn't realized that his little brother was spacing out, Conan thought that he was just speaking up for Haibara Ai. He reluctantly said, "Sorry, I went too far before."

After Conan finished speaking, he realized that Ai Haibara hadn't been listening to him at all; her attention was entirely on her bratty little brother...

Ai Haibara looked at Kazuma Kudo, her tone somewhat uncertain: "You... really think that way?"

Kazuma Kudo tilted his head slightly: "What do you think?"

Perhaps it was to spite Shinichi Kudo? He had heard of Danpo's sharp tongue.

Or perhaps it was just to appease her and make her feel at ease helping Shinichi Kudo make the antidote?

These uncertain thoughts swirled in her mind again and again; she felt she simply couldn't understand Danpo's ideas...

Looking up and meeting his gaze, she suddenly remembered seeing Danpo's relieved expression in the rearview mirror earlier in the car...

He was probably genuinely thanking us, without any other intention.

Ai Haibara breathed a slight sigh of relief, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curled up slightly.

The sudden ringing of a cell phone drew everyone's attention.

Conan took out his phone, and his expression suddenly changed drastically when he saw the incoming call.

"orchid!"

Kudo Kazuma burst out laughing when he saw Conan's expression.

"Hey, you didn't call Xiaolan to tell her when you accepted the case, did you?"

Seeing the unlucky guy's reaction, he checked the time and couldn't help but shake his head: "It's been more than four hours. No wonder Xiaolan called you."

After receiving the call, Conan didn't dare mention that he had mistaken the counterfeit money gang for the Black Organization and tried to force his way in. He only talked about the Junior Detective League receiving a request and even got Kudo Kazuma to help him give false testimony.

Kazuma Kudo readily agreed to Ran's request to send Conan back to the agency.

A short while later, the two brothers took a car to Beikacho 5-chome.

On the way back, Conan stared at his bratty younger brother through the rearview mirror with his half-moon eyes: "I mean, is it really necessary to drive for such a short distance?"

Kazuma Kudo rolled his eyes: "Is it possible that I should go home too?"

Conan pouted: "Then why don't you just have dinner at the agency?"

“No need…” Kudo Kazuma suddenly smiled somewhat subtly, “You woke up a little late… Actually, the three of us had already eaten dinner before you woke up.”

Conan: "...Damn it!"

It was getting late after I took Conan home.

After returning home, Kazuma Kudo thought he could finally slack off, but to his surprise, he received a call from Gin.

Telephone?

Doesn't Gin usually send messages?

"Big brother, it's so late, aren't you going to sleep? I'm already asleep, so don't wake me up if there's a mission."

On the other end of the phone, Gin glanced at the wall clock whose hour hand had just pointed to 8, completely ignoring Kudo Kazuma's words.

"Tomorrow at 10:30 AM, Mihua Hotel, a transaction task."

Kazuma Kudo: "?"

"No, a trading mission? The kind where you can kill the trading partner?"

Under normal circumstances, when has he ever done a mission without a soul?

Gin was speechless for a moment: "...Whatever."

After saying that, he hung up the phone directly.

Immediately afterwards, a task message was sent to Kazuma Kudo's phone.

Tomorrow morning at 10:30, Room 404, Mihua Hotel.

The item being traded was a bomb?

The person being traded to was Teiji Moriya. He was not a long-term client of the organization, but rather someone who temporarily approached one of Vodka's peripheral members to request the purchase of bombs.

Vodka's voice is currently inconvenient, and for well-known reasons, Gin has passed the task to Kazuma Kudo.

Kazuma Kudo was speechless.

Can you blame him for this?

Isn't it all Volt's fault for blaming him?

He also understood why Gin didn't mind killing his trading partner—this guy was just a temporary customer who came to buy bombs, not a long-term client of the organization, and it seemed unlikely that he would become a long-term client...

but……

Kudo Kazuma raised his hand and rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

Teiji Moriya, that name sounds familiar. Could he be a character from a classic story?

Looks like I need to investigate this thoroughly...