Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Although the two are different in nature, they are the same in terms of risk.

If it were an ordinary person, Ai Haibara wouldn't care about anything, but the other party happens to know the true identities of both Ai Haibara and Conan.

With these two troublesome scenarios combined, who knows if the other person will suddenly go crazy and spread the news that the two of them have shrunk?

...Especially after the first two encounters, Ai Haibara felt this even more strongly.

The other person feels like an unstable time bomb, ready to explode at any moment.

However, to be honest, Ai Haibara felt that the other party was like a double-edged sword.

Because, aside from the downsides, Sano knowing their secret wasn't without its benefits.

According to the information Ai Haibara learned from Conan, Sano's abilities are even superior to his. He is skilled in deduction and close combat, making him an excellent teammate.

If possible, Ai Haibara would certainly prefer that the side of this double-edged sword that was pointing towards her be worn away, so that it could only be used to deal with enemies.

Therefore, Ai Haibara must accompany me to today's follow-up appointment.

...Although Conan's "information" contained a lot of information that proved Sano's abilities were very strong, there was also a lot of information that proved that Sano's thought process was really not quite normal.

The most direct point is the time when Conan's true identity was completely exposed to Sano.

Ai Haibara really didn't expect that before threatening her, this girl had actually threatened Conan and his parents once, and used similar words and methods!

As expected, last night was just a simple case of illness; he was trying to amuse himself!

This only makes people more worried that the other party might suddenly "explode".

As for Kogoro Mouri, although he didn't stay up all night, he was quite sleepy since he got up early.

What's rather strange is that this uncle, who usually gives Sano a look of disgust, didn't utter a single complaint this time, perhaps considering Sano's condition, because Sano was suffering. He simply went to get his car quietly.

However, because there were just too many people accompanying him to the hospital, Kogoro Mouri had to spend more money to rent a larger car, muttering to himself.

"Honestly, isn't it enough for me and Xiaolan to be here? Why do we have to bring along these two brats and a young lady?"

After getting on the bus, Conan and Ai Haibara insisted on sitting next to Sano for some reason, pushing Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki, who originally wanted to follow on either side, to the front.

"What's wrong?"

Sano glanced at Conan, knowing without asking that the other had something to say.

Conan chuckled and explained the case he had encountered the previous night.

It turns out that after Conan had a conversation with Ai Haibara last night, they reached a consensus to team up. Then, the two of them and Professor Agasa drove overnight to find the drug because Ai Haibara's sister had mistakenly sent a document about the drug APTX4869 to a professor.

...According to Conan, as long as they can obtain this information, Ai Haibara can create the antidote for APTX4869 and turn the two of them back to their original forms.

Surprisingly, when Conan and his friends arrived at the professor's house, he was already dead, and the room where he died was completely sealed, making it a locked-room murder case.

...To put it bluntly, it's just that the plague god has killed another innocent person.

New business growth, a great start, and continued prosperity.

Sano listened to Conan's description briefly, only making a few mental comments, and couldn't muster any interest, since no mission had been triggered.

"Hey, Sano, can you figure out what's really behind this case?"

Looking at Conan's expectant eyes, Sano could roughly guess what the other was thinking.

His competitive spirit is kicking in again; he wants to out-determine his own reasoning.

But I have no idea how to reason.

Sano rubbed his sticky eyes, not wanting to pay any attention to Conan.

Chapter 201, I treated you as a teammate, but you want to be my dad?

Perhaps because he wasn't fully awake yet, and because he had recently gotten used to answering other people's questions, Sano's mouth, driven by instinct, answered Conan's question even faster than his brain.

"There are probably two possibilities. One is a fake locked room, which appears to be a locked room but is not, just like in the diplomat case where the murderer killed someone in front of them. The other possibility is a real locked room, perhaps like Hattori Heiji's previous flawed reasoning, where the murderer started by cracking the door?"

These two possibilities are actually just extensions of a single case.

...After all, Sano's current understanding of the "locked room murder case" setting is limited to the diplomat incident, which Hattori Heiji also participated in.

To Sano's surprise, the words he instinctively uttered based on his limited experience actually made Conan's face freeze.

What's going on? Did I guess right?

"...You're right, the murderer used the cassette tape of the telephone recording to send the key inside."

Conan was completely deflated. He hadn't even revealed any clues yet, and the other person had already found the key point. The difference in skill was indeed quite significant...

Ai Haibara, standing to the side, glanced at Conan and thoughtfully shifted her gaze.

Surprisingly, he found the key to breaking the deadlock based on just a few words from someone else.

Just as Kudo had said, this knife was frighteningly sharp.

Sano could only sigh at this.

I never expected my experience to be so useful, or perhaps I really do have a talent for being a detective?

Forget it, it's nothing to worry about, why bother with it?

"So, did you get the disk?"

Sano still paid attention to the important matter, after all, according to what Conan just said, as long as Ai Haibara could get certain information, she would be able to make an antidote for that drug.

...Although Sano believes that this situation may be a long way off.

As expected, Conan immediately expressed his regret that although he had indeed obtained the disk, it contained some kind of self-destruct program and was now gone. However, Conan did mention something... trivial to Sano.

Conan was scolded by Ai Haibara.

The reasons are simple in some ways, complex in others, justifiable in some ways, and illegitimate in others.

It's actually about Akemi Miyano.

This led Conan to mention Miyano Akemi's real name—a name he had only learned the previous night, having previously assumed it was Hirota Masami.

Since Conan was unaware that Sano was actually one of the key participants in the Miyano Akemi incident, he recounted the whole story in detail.

...Sano just treated it as gossip, and he didn't really know some of the unimportant details.

"You have no idea how badly she cried. It's a good thing you weren't there, otherwise you would have been the one getting scolded, not me."

Conan whispered to Sano, afraid that Ai Haibara would hear them from the other end.

Although Conan, as a partner of justice, shouldn't complain even if he's morally blackmailed for failing to save someone, he is still a human being and inevitably has some grievances.

In particular, Conan felt even more frustrated because of the disparity between rich and poor, especially with someone like Sano who was more capable but wasn't criticized.

Although Conan knew that Sano had never been involved in this matter.

I failed to save them, while they had no chance to save me at all. There is a fundamental difference between us. Even if it's moral blackmail, you can't do it from hundreds of miles away.

Sano could probably guess Conan's thoughts, and could only shake his head inwardly—who told you to be a good person.

Of course, this is still a trivial matter.

However, this reminded Sano of something else.

Due to Ai Haibara's...disappearance, Gin has demolished the Aoka Research Institute where she was located to prevent any accidents.

Akemi Miyano knew that her sister was doing research there.

Now that news of the destruction of the Aoka Research Institute has spread, the other party will likely understand that it was an accident involving Shiho Miyano.

Is this going to cause some kind of trouble?

...Speak of the devil and he appears.

The thought had barely crossed Sano's mind when his phone rang.

Sano glanced at the caller ID; it was indeed Kaito Kuroba.

After a two-second silence, Sano answered the phone and put it to his ear.

"Hey Blackie, what's going on? The guy you asked me to help with the disguise is going crazy. He's desperately trying to leave, saying his sister is in danger. I've managed to stop him for now. Do you want to call that Blackie guy and ask him?"

Hearing the obvious noise on the other end of the phone, Sano didn't say anything. He simply hung up the phone, then turned to Ai Haibara next to him and snapped a sound.

After sending Ai Haibara's photo to Kaito Kuroba, Sano sent another message.

"Show her this photo, and she'll understand."

After turning off her phone, Ai Haibara, who was standing next to her, naturally had her brows furrowed.

"You took my picture?"

Seeing the suspicious look on Ai Haibara's face, Sano nodded: "Yes."

What is it used for?

In Ai Haibara's opinion, Sano's actions were really too... unpredictable. He suddenly took a picture of himself, who knows what he was planning to do.

...If he's not a psychopath with a lolicon complex, then perhaps it's the situation I'm worried about.

"Oh, a girl kept bothering me, so I told her I have a daughter."

Upon hearing Sano's answer, Ai Haibara couldn't help but type a question mark.

Not only Ai Haibara, but even Conan and the three people in the front row were shocked by Sano's outrageous reason.

Damn it, I treated you like a teammate, and you actually want to be my dad?

Ai Haibara's face turned as black as charcoal: "Why didn't you use... Edogawa-kun as an excuse?"

"Nonsense, they know Conan is a member of the Mori family, using him as a shield won't work."

Sano gave a few perfunctory replies.

Is this your reason for casually claiming someone is your daughter?

Ai Haibara snorted coldly. If Sano didn't know, that would be one thing, but Sano knew her true identity. She had every reason to suspect that he did it on purpose.

However, Sonoko Suzuki, who was ahead, was intrigued and kept asking Sano all sorts of questions: "Senpai, do I know the girl you mentioned earlier, Ran? She's even seen Conan before. By the way, is she from our school? How old is she...?"

"..."

Under Sonoko Suzuki's persistent questioning and Sano's endless evasive answers, the group arrived at Beika Hospital.

"Let's go, we should be going to the cardiology department, right?"