Chapter 191: Where Am I?
The rainy night was chilly; the deserted streets lay empty save for the streetlights casting their cold glow.
On such a night, only the relentless rhythm of torrential rain echoed in her ears, evoking a profound sense of loneliness and isolation.
Sherry was in bad shape—the APTX4869 she'd just taken seemed to be reacting poorly to the rain.
She could clearly feel her body gradually heating up.
At the same time, she felt freezing cold. As a knowledgeable scientist, she recognized this symptom immediately—fever.
She wanted to stop and rest by the roadside, sheltered from the rain, but she was terrified Gin would catch up to her.
The ventilation duct had been incredibly narrow; thankfully, her shrunken body had allowed her to escape through it.
However, she hadn't tried to replace the cover—or rather, she hadn't had the strength to put it back on.
With Gin's intelligence, the first thing he'd do upon discovering her absence would be to locate the ventilation duct, even if an adult couldn't squeeze through it.
At this moment, Sherry couldn't help but think of Tequila again.
He had unscrewed the ventilation duct cover beforehand. Had he already anticipated that she could escape through the duct after shrinking?
That guy is too mysterious.
However! This guy is definitely not the original Tequila.
She hadn't realized it before, but during her two days of imprisonment, she'd thought about it extensively and was certain this Tequila was someone else in disguise.
As for the real Tequila, he's either dead or imprisoned by the impostor.
Strange guy. She'd initially worried the impostor would be waiting for her at the ventilation duct exit, but he wasn't there.
"Damn it... I'm running out of strength." Cold sweat mixed with rain on her forehead, and the dripping water was rapidly heated and cooled by her fluctuating body temperature. From a distance, she looked like she was steaming.
"I should be... almost there."
She looked up at the road sign.
Beika Town 2-chome 1-25 →
Kudo Shinichi's house should be at Beika Town 2-chome 21—only four addresses away.
While happy to be approaching her destination, she was also afraid. Afraid she wouldn't be able to find Kudo Shinichi.
The last time she'd broken into the Kudo residence, aside from noticing Shinichi's childhood clothes were missing, the entire villa had looked uninhabited for a long time.
After shrinking, Shinichi rarely seemed to return home.
But she didn't dare go directly to the Mouri Detective Agency—not only was it too far, but there was another consideration.
The people at the Mouri household were, after all, unrelated strangers, and she feared her appearance might cause unpredictable consequences.
Having no other choice, she had to take her chances at Shinichi's house.
Having just escaped from the Organization, all she could think of was Shinichi, who had shrunk just like her. She had nowhere else to go.
"I have to see my sister again. I have to survive! I can't let Gin find me!"
Sherry struggled forward, her right hand gripping the wall, but her vision blurred and her body weakened with each agonizing step.
She was only four blocks from the Kudo residence, yet those few hundred meters felt like an insurmountable chasm.
Then, a sliver of light appeared behind her, and her shadow materialized in front of her, slowly solidifying as the light source approached.
Sherry's steps faltered, her face turning even paler.
The car lights reminded her of Gin's Porsche 356A.
That vintage car, though old, had been heavily modified by Gin, making it different from a standard Porsche 356A—for example, its headlights were very bright, much like the ones approaching now.
Were they chasing her?
Instinctively, she grabbed a cracked telephone pole and crouched down, like an ostrich burying its head between the pole and the wall, trying to hide herself.
The fever, coupled with the drug's side effects, had clouded her judgment. She'd completely forgotten this method would be utterly useless.
Perhaps she couldn't think of any other effective option—this was her last desperate act.
Trembling, she pulled a pen from her pocket. If it were Gin, she would immediately plunge the pen into her heart and die right in front of him.
However, when she placed the pen against her chest, she found she didn't even have the strength to remove the cap.
Intense fear and palpitations overwhelmed her body. Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and she vaguely heard her mother's lullaby from childhood.
In her last moments before losing consciousness, she heard someone exit the car.
"Professor Agasa, do you have any cold medicine for this little girl?"
The man's voice trailed off, eventually drowned out by a strange ringing in her ears.
Thankfully, it wasn't Gin's voice. It seemed she'd encountered a kind person.
The voice was soothing, making her relax.
She vaguely felt herself being lifted up, the warm embrace causing her to let out a soft moan.
"She's still alive, but her fever is quite high."
A smile played on Natsukawa's lips. Thankfully, his back was to Professor Agasa—otherwise, this inexplicable smile might have made the professor think of something unpleasant.
"It doesn't seem too serious, but her temperature is definitely elevated." Professor Agasa checked on the child in the back seat, and after confirming she was alive, he sighed with relief.
"Let's take her to your house first, Professor. If it's serious, then we can take her to the hospital."
Professor Agasa nodded. "I have some cold medicine at home, plus a modified temperature-controlled bed. It should be more effective than the hospital."
As someone who constantly invented gadgets for Conan, he also had several other oddities lying around—he even had fever-reducing injections at home!
Conan had previously asked him to develop special cold medicine.
He hadn't succeeded with that, but he'd created a whole bunch of strange devices, some of which could indeed alleviate cold symptoms to some extent.
Looking down at his soaking wet clothes, then at the equally drenched back seat, Professor Agasa suddenly shivered.
Come to think of it, with Natsukawa driving at such a crawl, he'd probably catch a cold on the way back.
However, Natsukawa, having already secured an important NPC, suddenly floored the accelerator. The engine roared and the strong acceleration almost left Professor Agasa breathless.
After catching his breath, he finally recovered and tried to get Natsukawa to slow down, only to find the car had already come to a gentle stop.
Looking out the window at the lit-up villa, he breathed a sigh of relief—they were home.
"Why didn't you drive like this earlier?"
But after glancing at the little girl in his arms, Professor Agasa felt relieved.
Natsukawa was probably worried the little girl wouldn't receive timely treatment.
Half an hour later, Sherry was placed on the temperature-controlled bed.
Professor Agasa's improved temperature-controlled bed had an automatic temperature-regulation function.
Covering her with a blanket maintained the temperature at the most suitable level for someone with a fever.
Logically speaking, Japan was still in the early mobile phone era. It was already outrageous that the Organization had developed video communication capabilities, but Professor Agasa was even more impressive—he'd created a rudimentary form of artificial intelligence.
"This is pseudo-intelligent software created from medical case data of sick patients. Installed on this temperature-regulating bed, it becomes a temperature-controlled bed specifically designed for patients."
Professor Agasa explained, hands on his hips. Seeing the surprised look on Natsukawa's face, he couldn't help but boast about his research achievements.
Conan had mentioned that Natsukawa was quite wealthy.
He figured if he demonstrated it a little, maybe Natsukawa could offer him some financial support.
Although he had various funding sources and enough money, what inventor ever complained about having too much money?
"Wow, that's incredible! Hospitals definitely need something like this." Natsukawa was genuinely impressed. It sounded simple, but software development was still very difficult in this era.
Even pseudo-intelligence was challenging.
Just these past few days, mobile phones had only started becoming several times smaller, and Professor Agasa had already created pseudo-intelligence—it was truly remarkable.
"Uh, well..."
Professor Agasa scratched his head awkwardly.
The device was useful, but it required an intelligent chip, which was very large and extremely expensive, so hospitals probably couldn't afford to use it.
Professor Agasa looked at Natsukawa with hopeful eyes, waiting for him to inquire about the price.
He didn't feel ashamed promoting his product—it was all for his research funding.
"Well, I don't really need this." He hadn't had a cold in years.
After all, he was a spy. His constitution was excellent, his resistance strong, and he rarely got minor illnesses—he was in peak health!
If there were any injuries, they'd be something like knife or gunshot wounds, and a temperature-controlled bed wouldn't heal those quickly.
Besides, compared to this, Natsukawa thought it would be better to take Yor's special medicine.
Enduring seven days of suffering was worse than enduring two hours of agony—just grit your teeth and bear it.
He used to think Yor's special medicine was brutal, but now he recognized its incredible effectiveness.
The stuff even had repeat customers, like a certain elementary school student Grim Reaper.
"That's such a shame." Professor Agasa was disappointed—it seemed there was no hope after all.
"However..."
"However, what?" Professor Agasa's eyes lit up.
"Professor Agasa could contact some private clinics.
Japan has a huge wealth gap, and most wealthy people prefer having a family doctor. These doctors don't live in their employers' homes—most have their own clinics.
They already charge high fees, and these smart beds could improve patient comfort, so they'd definitely be willing to buy them. This would naturally allow them to charge even higher fees, easily earning hundreds of thousands of yen for treating a single cold.
Over time, those wealthy people might even buy one for their own homes."
Natsukawa's words opened up a completely new avenue for Professor Agasa.
Although he was a brilliant scientist, his brilliance lay in invention, not business—he didn't know much about such things.
Hearing Natsukawa's suggestion, he thought it was definitely worth trying.
The two chatted by the bedside about how to market Professor Agasa's research and inventions.
After a long while, Professor Agasa yawned and rubbed his slightly sore eyes.
Natsukawa smiled and said, "Professor Agasa, if you're tired, go take a nap. I'll look after the little girl."
"I couldn't possibly do that!" It wasn't in Professor Agasa's character to sleep while leaving a guest to look after the child.
"It's alright, she's still unconscious and probably won't wake up anytime soon. I'll just doze on the sofa here."
"I see. Then I'll leave her in your care, Natsukawa."
After chatting for a while, the two had become familiar enough that Professor Agasa no longer addressed him formally.
He really needed to rest. He'd been busy from morning until now without a lunch break and was completely exhausted.
If he hadn't just been discussing something he cared deeply about with Natsukawa, he probably would have started yawning an hour ago.
Watching Professor Agasa head off to sleep, Natsukawa pulled the sofa closer to the smart bed and also closed his eyes to doze.
Sherry had gone missing today. Knowing Gin's personality, he would definitely conduct a massive search after discovering her absence. Natsukawa needed to rest now, or he'd probably be working all night tomorrow.
The situation was volatile.
Did Sherry shrinking mean Jodie had also found Shirakage Pharmaceuticals? What would Gin's strategy be? Would the two sides clash tomorrow?
These questions remained unanswered, so he needed to be in top condition to prepare for the upcoming chaos.
A few hours later, Natsukawa, who was sleeping lightly, was awakened by a soft groan.
He opened his eyes and watched Sherry struggling to get off the smart bed, finding it somewhat amusing.
Sherry hadn't noticed he was awake and was still trying to turn over.
However, the weakness caused by her fever made even turning over difficult, and she failed several times.
She finally gave up and glanced back at Natsukawa, wanting to see if her movements had woken him.
Then their eyes met, creating an awkward moment.
Natsukawa blinked and nodded.
Sherry saw his gesture but couldn't tell if he was signaling her to continue or simply greeting her.
"Want some water?"
Sherry had sweated profusely from her fever, and even her bedding was damp. Her lips were dry, and she hesitated when Natsukawa offered her a glass of water, unsure whether to accept it.
After a long pause, she took the water glass and asked softly, "Where is this?"
Besides the change in her size, her voice had also become childish after shrinking, which made Sherry feel uncomfortable.
"This is Professor Agasa's house. Around midnight, the Professor and I found you crouching under a telephone pole." After explaining, Natsukawa gestured for Sherry to explain her background.
Sherry remained silent, locking eyes with Natsukawa in a staring contest, refusing to reveal anything about herself.
This was within Natsukawa's expectations.
She was quite similar to Conan in this respect—neither would reveal the Black Organization or their shrinking to ordinary people.
Sherry genuinely thought this way. Especially since he was her savior, she couldn't let him know such dangerous information and put him at risk.
"Where do you live? I should probably contact your parents. They must be very worried after you've been missing all night."
Although he knew this question might be hurtful, Natsukawa still asked it.
A normal person would ask that. Since he didn't intend to reveal his identity for now, he needed to play the part convincingly.
"..."
"Okay, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. Sleep a little longer and we'll discuss it tomorrow morning."
Natsukawa reached out to check her forehead temperature and found her fever had subsided considerably. Professor Agasa's invention was proving quite effective.
It couldn't cure the problem completely, but it made her feel much better. Sherry even had enough energy to attempt an escape.
Her actions just now must have been an escape attempt, but she'd been too weak from the fever and failed multiple times.
After tucking the blanket around her again, Natsukawa returned to the sofa to continue sleeping.
(End of Chapter)
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