"Um… Shimizu-nii," Conan asked,"do you know who those two men from this afternoon were?"
He wasn't using a childish tone anymore.
Seeing the seriousness in Conan's eyes, Shimizu Koji thought for a moment and straightened his posture as well.
"I'm not sure," he replied calmly."But I did hear their names."
"What?!""What were they called?!"
Conan jumped to his feet, eyes wide, looking unusually frantic.
Growing more and more curious about him, Shimizu Koji didn't bother keeping any suspense. He nodded and spoke directly.
"Gin. Vodka. If I heard correctly, those were the names they used to address each other."
After a pause, he added casually,"By the way, you said you're a detective. Are all detectives like you? How did you realize there was someone pulling the strings behind Sister Yami?"
Although Shimizu Koji was curious, he didn't dwell on it too much. In fact, he'd already come up with a reasonable explanation on his own.
This world was clearly abnormal.
A grade-schooler with unusually high intelligence didn't seem that impossible—especially when the profession of detective carried such weight in this world.
"Gin… Vodka…"
Conan's expression turned extremely serious. He suddenly lifted his head and glared fiercely at Shimizu Koji.
"And what else?!""What other information do you know about them?!"
Shimizu Koji didn't react to the rudeness. Conan hadn't exactly left a great first impression anyway. He simply shook his head and fell silent.
Naturally, Conan was disappointed.
He clenched his small fists and muttered under his breath,"Damn it… that's all?"
If the situation weren't so inappropriate—and if he weren't completely outmatched—Conan would've seriously suspected that Shimizu Koji was hiding information.
Before he arrived, those two men in black had clearly spoken with Hirota Masami for some time.
"You're this concerned…""You've seen those two men before, haven't you?"
Shimizu Koji's calm voice fell like a bucket of cold water over Conan's head.
Conan looked up.
At some point, Shimizu Koji had moved to the window. The moonlight framed his figure from behind, making his expression difficult to see.
For reasons he couldn't explain, facing Shimizu Koji's steady gaze and quiet question made Conan break out in a cold sweat.
Shimizu Koji met his eyes directly.
Given Conan's reaction, the conclusion wasn't hard to reach.
Over the past few days—especially today—Shimizu Koji's mindset had subtly changed.
After realizing that the "three years" he'd experienced were nothing but false time, the shift became especially pronounced.
Having lived through countless rebirths and short-lived existences, he'd grown numb to dying.
This time, surviving for three full years had given him a faint, lucky sense of hope.
After meeting Akemi—and accepting her kindness—that fragile hope had grown stronger.
For the first time, he found himself wanting a peaceful life.
For the first time, he felt the urge to run from fate.
But after today's events, Shimizu Koji suddenly felt at peace again.
Whether the next crossing would come or not—it wasn't something he could escape just by wanting to.
And the woman who had cared for him, who had given him hope—Hirota Masami, or rather, Miyano Akemi—turned out to bear a fate just as heavy as his own.
So—
To hell with it.It's just one life.What's a life worth to me anyway?Take it.
He didn't know when he might "die" again.
But before that happened, he had decided—to protect her,and to do everything he could to help his "sister" break free from the burden she carried.
Under Shimizu Koji's gaze, Conan slowly came back to himself. He wiped the cold sweat from his face and shook his head repeatedly.
"N-No… it's not like that," he said hastily."I was just curious about who those criminals were. I'm sorry, Shimizu-nii… I think I got a little carried away."
For Conan to admit something like that—admitting he'd acted impulsively—was no small thing, even if Shimizu Koji didn't realize it.
"Sister Yami is a really good person," Conan continued."Uncle Mouri told me that they found her lipstick at that robber Beizuka's house, but I didn't believe she could do something like that. So I kept investigating."
"But I still arrived too late…"
Conan suddenly fell silent.
Like waking from a dream, he recalled the scene from that afternoon.
At the time, Shimizu Koji seemed to be lying in wait.And the two men in black were only talking to Hirota Masami.
If—if he hadn't suddenly appeared, exposing Shimizu Koji's position, forcing Gin to open fire—
Conan's grip on his shorts tightened.
The room fell deathly quiet, the sound of his breathing growing louder and louder.
"It's not your fault."
Shimizu Koji spoke calmly.
From Conan's state, he already understood what the boy was thinking. He had never treated Conan as having the intelligence of a normal child, so it wasn't hard to follow his thoughts.
"I didn't have a better solution back then either. That blond man—Gin—gave me a really bad feeling."
"If you hadn't shown up, I might not have even been able to rush in at all. The outcome wouldn't have changed. Or maybe…"
He chuckled lightly.
"…I would've died there too."
Conan stared at him blankly, his throat tight, unable to say a word.
"Don't look at me like that, kid," Shimizu Koji said lightly."I don't blame you. But in similar situations, responsibility can't be avoided."
Conan was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"…Sorry."
Shimizu Koji smiled faintly and glanced at the night sky.
"Alright. You've asked everything you wanted to ask. Shouldn't you be heading home now? Want me to walk you back?"
The abrupt change in topic caught Conan off guard.
From the very start, the conversation's pace had been controlled by Shimizu Koji—and now, once again, he was being chased out of his own house.
Setting aside the heavy mood from earlier, Conan clearly remembered that line—
'Why are you still here?'
And he was about eighty percent certain that Shimizu Koji was hiding a lot of information—simply because he looked down on him for being a kid.And kept calling him kid.
"No need," Conan said, standing up."Uncle Mouri's place is in Fifth District."
He walked toward the door. Though he didn't ask to be escorted, Shimizu Koji still intended to see him out.
But just as Conan reached the living room door and turned the handle, he suddenly turned back and flashed Shimizu Koji a shy, toothy grin.
"Oh, right—I almost forgot. Shimizu-nii, my cousin won't charge you rent…"
"…but you are responsible for the daily maintenance costs of the villa and the garden~."
Conan left just before nine.
Around ten, Shimizu Koji received a phone call.
The caller was Kudo Shinichi—the cousin Conan had mentioned, and the one who'd asked for his number.
The call itself was brief. Shinichi spoke in the tone of a senior—and a famous detective—expressing his admiration for Shimizu Koji.
It all sounded perfectly reasonable.
And yet, for some reason, Shimizu Koji found it… strange.
At the very end, just like that elementary-school brat, Kudo Shinichi deliberately added one final line:
"So feel free to stay as long as you like. I absolutely won't charge rent…"
"…but I'll be counting on you to handle the daily upkeep expenses, Shimizu-kun~."