An urgent report arrived from Conan: he had just realized he'd planted a transmitter on Kir.
It was an ordinary weekend afternoon. When the call reached Dr. Agasa's mobile, I nearly choked on my lunch. This was it—the original timeline. The "Clash with Kir" was beginning.
Kir, a high-ranking member of the Black Organization, is actually named Hidemi Hondo. To the public, she is Rena Mizunashi, a famous television announcer. In reality, she is a deep-cover CIA agent. Conan had bugged her by complete accident; he had simply forgotten to retrieve a device used in a previous case, and it happened to stick to her. Because it was a total fluke, even a master of espionage like Kir failed to notice it.
"Could such a coincidence actually happen?" I found it hard to believe. Inside, Furuya scowled.
"If a bug were planted like that, even I might miss it..."
Personally, I can intuitively detect transmitters through their broadcast frequencies, but Furuya lacks that specific instinct. I learned all this by eavesdropping on the conversation at Dr. Agasa's house. Although Agasa took the call, my sharp hearing easily caught the leaked audio. I had come by to give the doctor my thoughts on the baton he had invented and was enjoying a quiet chat with Haibara.
When I saw Dr. Agasa blinking in shock at his smartphone, I moved silently behind him. I deftly snatched the phone from his hand and interrupted Conan's call.
"Hello, Conan. I heard you bugged Kir?"
『You... Bourbon!』
"This is a disaster. She has a briefing with Gin and the others shortly. If they find that device, Kogoro Mouri's life won't be worth a cent."
『Ah!!!』
"Kir just passed by the Mouri Detective Agency. It would be perfectly natural for her to assume the detective himself planted it."
Conan gasped, his teeth audibly clenching. This was a genuine emergency. If things went sideways, the Organization might eliminate not just Kogoro, but Ran and Conan as well.
『Can you get it back?』 Conan asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"If her mission ends smoothly, I might be able to retrieve it under the guise of 'assisting.' But that depends on one thing... whether Gin, with his razor-sharp intuition, has already sniffed it out."
『...Damn it!』
When Dr. Agasa insisted they go meet Conan, I nodded, my eyes narrowed. Worried about several variables, I joined Agasa in his Beetle. Haibara looked at me with confusion. Despite my proximity, she showed no signs of fear—only a silent question: Why are you coming along?
I found myself asking her with an intentionally naive expression,
"Aren't you afraid of me?"
"I've realized you aren't an enemy,"
she replied calmly.
"I can't stay frightened forever."
"...You truly are strong."
A resilient strength lay beneath her quiet demeanor. Both sisters were formidable in their own right.
"Perhaps even stronger than I am."
Our thoughts aligned, and my tone shifted to match Furuya's internal voice. We drove the Beetle to the meeting point, where Conan waited with a tense expression. When he saw me sitting in the back seat, his eyes widened in shock.
"What are you doing here?!"
"I was worried you'd rush in blindly. If they take you out, Sherry is next. Surely you know that?"
"...I know that perfectly well!!!"
Furuya fixed Conan with a sharp gaze, and the boy looked away, clearly burdened by his own mistakes.
According to Conan, the Organization's next target was someone codenamed "DJ." The hit was scheduled for 1:00 PM at "Eddie P." Since I was a member myself, I already knew this without asking. This was an adaptation of the original story, but as I wasn't part of the planning team, I lacked the finer details. I recalled they intended to assassinate an individual obstructing the Organization by sniping them during Kir's interview at Haido Park.
Listening to the audio from the bug, Conan turned to Haibara.
"Have you ever heard of Chianti or Korn?"
"Yes,"
she replied.
"I heard they are elite snipers."
"They're trigger-happy,"
I interrupted.
"Troublesome 'artists' who don't care about anything as long as they get to put a bullet in a human target."
Conan looked disgusted by my description. As an operative responsible for "wet work," I knew the Organization's inner workings far better than Sherry, who had been confined to a lab.
"And what about Kir?"
"She's an all-rounder. Her main role is infiltration and intelligence gathering, using her position as an announcer. I worked with her once; she has nerves of steel and is highly efficient."
My usual duties rarely overlapped with hers, but I once served as a bodyguard for a lead operative during a high-stakes mission. She had been blunt, insisting on working alone and telling me my interference wasn't needed. As an undercover agent, she likely wanted to avoid casualties, but it was a high-risk gamble. She pushed her luck too far and returned clutching a gunshot wound to her side. I remembered Gin mocking her as a "fool who rushed for results," while she looked back at him with a mix of regret and fury.
Conan looked up as a new question emerged from the transmitter's audio.
"Wait, what do 'DJ' and 'Eddie P' mean?"
"If I tell you, won't you just charge straight to the scene? That would make things unnecessarily dangerous."
"If that bug is found, it's over anyway! We can't fix this without taking a risk!"
I sighed, yielding. I reached into my memory for the intel.
"'DJ' is a codename for the target based on his love for gambling. 'Eddie P' stands for Edward Park. Does that suffice?"
"Edward... you mean Edward Hyde! Haido Park!"
After saying it aloud, Conan stared at me, horrified.
Yes, Edward Hyde—the murderous persona from Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Looking at Conan, I knew he had been suspicious of my behavior for a long time. With that one clue, he had likely found the answer to every question he had about me.
"Wait..."
"You... you might actually be..."
A mischievous urge flared within me, and I felt a faint laugh echo in my soul. Furuya and I shared a silent nod. If we tried to dodge him now, he would never stop suspecting us. Besides, he had already reached the conclusion. Rather than a clumsy cover-up, it was better to be honest about what we could reveal.
Our eyes narrowed mysteriously as we stared at Conan. We spoke slowly.
"What is it, Conan? What were you going to say about me?"
Haibara gasped beside him, sensing the sudden, drastic shift in my presence.
"You—!"
"You are the first person to see through us. Well done, little detective."
That wasn't a lie. Lupin hadn't used intuition; he had simply seen us for exactly what we were, calling it out instantly. I wondered what kind of sixth sense that man possessed.
Conan quickly recovered from his shock, his eyes sharpening with intellect as he posed his question.
"Which one are you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Which of you is Bourbon? Both of you?"
"This part is me. The Organization executive known as 'The Wolf' is the Amuro Tooru you know well. However... that doesn't mean I am as innocent or kind-hearted as Dr. Jekyll."
Conan seemed baffled by the constant shift in my presence, logic, and stated principles. Haibara, having realized something, stared at me in disbelief. She gestured toward me—specifically toward the "Furuya" side of my persona—and spoke with cautious dread.
"I can't feel the Organization's presence from the 'Bourbon' who calls himself Ore...!"
"...Wait, even if you say it's a dual personality, can it really change that distinctly?!"
With a gaze even more defiant than mine, Furuya Rei smiled with unshakable confidence. It was as if he were saying: Out of respect for your efforts in chasing the Organization alone, I will reveal myself to you.
In a voice that was firm, arrogant, and imposing, Furuya Rei made his declaration.
"I am Zero. I am the other side of Amuro Tooru."
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