Conan: I'm Really Not Tokyo Ghost Story

Page 161

And what do you mean by saying that someone is more worthy of saving because they killed fewer people? Is that even a valid calculation?

After a few seconds of mental blanking, Kaito Kuroba chose to temporarily set aside this question and instead asked other questions.

"No, what exactly is this criminal organization? Why did they kill this woman? And why didn't they just call the police and let them handle it?"

Sano looked at Kaito Kuroba, thought for a few seconds, and then answered the last question: "If calling the police would be useful, do you think we would need to go through all this trouble? Besides, don't forget that the police can't even catch a thief like you, so how can we expect them to do this?"

Kaito Kuroba choked. What the other person said did make a lot of sense... but was it necessary to bring him up for comparison, making himself seem inferior?

...While it's true that the police, who hadn't been able to catch him for a long time, seemed rather pathetic compared to the other party who "caught" him on the first try.

Seeing that Kaito Kuroba had fallen silent, Sano knew that the other party had almost accepted his statement.

The minor problem is solved, and now it's time to get down to business.

Sano turned his gaze to Miyano Akemi on the sofa next to him, grabbed her and then delivered two practiced slaps to her face.

Hearing the crisp sound of the slap, Kaito Kuroba woke up with a start. When he looked over, his eyes twitched involuntarily—this guy really had the heart to hurt such a beautiful woman!

With Sano's gentle and personalized wake-up service, Miyano Akemi gradually regained consciousness from her coma.

The stinging pain in the back of her neck and the burning pain on both cheeks made Miyano Akemi's already unclear mind even more confused.

What's going on...?

Akemi Miyano blinked in confusion. She seemed to only remember that when she had just received the 1 billion yen and was preparing to silence another teammate before making a deal with Gin...

The rye came knocking!

Akemi Miyano's eyes widened, and she instantly snapped back to reality. She sat up, looking around with a mixture of surprise and wariness at the two figures.

"Who...are you? Where am I?"

“I am Black Death, he is Kidd, and you are in his house now.”

Seeing Sano pointing at him with his thumb, Kaito Kuroba stared blankly for a second before his eyes widened like saucers.

Damn it, how did this guy just tear off his own disguise like that?!

Was this really necessary?

Before Kuroba Kaito could offer any excuses, Sano continued, "I hate nonsense, so I'll get straight to the point and make this short."

“Gin wanted to kill you and use you to lure out Shuichi Akai. There were six executives lying in ambush at the place where you were making your deal tonight... strictly speaking, five. It was Rye who saved you. Now Gin and the others think you are dead. In other words, Gin never intended to let you live, but you are alive.”

"Do you understand?"

Akemi Miyano stared blankly at Sano for a while before gradually realizing what was happening: "You mean... that rye helped me fake my death?"

"Ah."

After Sano nodded, he didn't give Miyano Akemi a chance to speak again and continued, "You don't need to think about saving your sister now. You should know very well that you can't save her anyway."

"Of course, you don't need to say things like 'even if you can't save her, you should save her,' or 'even if you have to die together.' You may want to die, but your sister may not."

"Given the relationship between you and your sister, do you think she would still live on alone if she knew you were dead? No, so you have to live."

“Shuichi Akai didn’t come to save you. Your only hope now lies with Rye. You should know that Rye has a higher chance of saving your sister than you do.”

“If you run out and cause trouble now, not only will you disrupt Rye’s original plan, but you might also get him into trouble and be seen as ungrateful. Even if the organization doesn’t take action, he will personally send you sisters to your deaths.”

Sano spoke rapidly, analyzing the pros and cons for Miyano Akemi—compared to Asai Narumi, it would be much easier to fool this love-struck girl.

After all, as mentioned before, Miyano Akemi herself did not want to die, and compared to Asai Narumi, who was all alone and had no ties, she still had a younger sister to worry about.

Finally, this young woman, strictly speaking, is similar to Asai Narumi, the type who is in darkness but yearns for light... To put it bluntly, she is a bit of a pushover, so given the safety of her "savior Rye," she is not afraid that Miyano Akemi will disobey her.

As expected, after Miyano Akemi finally digested Sano's words, both her initial wariness and the anxiety hidden beneath the surface began to subside.

"Then can you tell me, who exactly is Rye, and why did he save me?"

Akemi Miyano asked the last question that had been on her mind.

Sano had anticipated that Miyano Akemi would ask this question. According to his original plan, he should have ignored it and just made up an excuse to get by, since it wouldn't have caused any trouble anyway.

For some reason, Sano suddenly remembered the scene when he met Shiho Miyano last time, and blurted out, "They are dating."

Then Akemi Miyano fell into a daze again.

Rye is dating... his own sister??

Actually, Akemi Miyano had heard such rumors before, but they were just gossip.

Akemi Miyano knew that her sister and that so-called rye had known each other for less than a month, and had only met twice in total.

Who would believe they're dating?

Putting everything else aside, just take Shiho Miyano as an example. As her older sister, how could Akemi Miyano not understand Shiho's cold personality...?

Akemi Miyano's thoughts came to an abrupt halt as she recalled her past with Shuichi Akai.

...Could it be that Xiaobao deliberately seduced Heimai and is using him as a tool?

No way, no way, are the codenamed members also this love-obsessed??

Akemi Miyano glanced hesitantly at the person in front of her who called himself "Kuroshi." He seemed to be Kurome's friend. Should she ask him to remind Kurome not to let his feelings be toyed with...?

Seeing that Miyano Akemi, who looked like she had seen a ghost, suddenly fell silent, Sano assumed that she had been persuaded and turned to look at Kuroba Kaito, who, although he had been listening in the whole time, felt like he had only heard something meaningless.

"She will be living in your house from now on. Make her a human skin mask every day to ensure that her true identity will not be discovered."

"……what?"

Kaito Kuroba pointed at himself in astonishment: "Let her live in my house? I have to make her human skin masks every day??"

"Hmm, is there a problem?"

"There's a problem, of course there's a problem!"

Kaito Kuroba glared at him and said with dissatisfaction, "Why should I listen to you..."

Before Kaito Kuroba could finish speaking, Sano took out his phone, opened a video recording, and played it for him.

Chapter 186, Sorry, I'm the one who killed your sister.

The scene appears to be a corridor, with a man in a suit inside.

The man pursed his lips in displeasure, seemingly muttering something under his breath. The next second, he ripped a human skin mask off his face, revealing Kaito Kuroba's face.

"Are you satisfied now? You know my name, my address is... and my phone number is..."

As Sano listened to the audio in the video, the voiceover "My name is Hu Tutu, and I live in Fandou Garden..." unconsciously popped into his mind, while watching Kuroba Kaito's reaction.

A short video, only a dozen seconds long, finished playing quickly.

However, after the video ended, there was still silence in the living room.

After a few seconds of silence with his arms crossed, Kaito Kuroba suddenly lunged at Sano, his target the phone in his hand.

Don't say that although Sano is currently wearing a special attack suit, he is actually enhanced by the Superman effect of the Kamen Rider accessory. Even if it's just the special attack suit, how could Kaito Kuroba so easily snatch his phone?

Kaito Kuroba missed his target and immediately reached out to grab it again.

Sano tilted his arm holding the phone back and immediately dodged it again.

Kaito Kuroba lunged again, while Sano tossed his phone to his other hand.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Kaito Kuroba flailed his arms wildly, pressing down on Sano as if preparing to seize her by force.

Sano retreated continuously, without attempting to attack Kaito Kuroba or use force to suppress him; he simply dodged.

The two sides moved faster and faster until they were finally moving around on the sofa, coffee table and other objects in the living room, shuttling between corners.

The bewildered Akemi Miyano almost thought she was watching a circus act, while the drummer cheered.

Unfortunately, after all that chaotic dancing, Kaito Kuroba still couldn't even touch the hem of Sano's clothes.

With the Superman effect, Sano is now practically maxed out in evasion and agility, yet he still managed to get robbed by a thief?

After this situation lasted for about ten minutes, Kaito Kuroba finally couldn't hold on any longer. He stopped moving, panting and supporting himself on his knees.

However, Kaito Kuroba's gaze remained fixed on Sano's phone. After gritting his teeth, he asked, "You actually secretly recorded a video?!"

"How can you prove you're Kaito Kid without recording a video?"

Sano finally put his phone in his pocket and said matter-of-factly.

"But this isn't what we agreed on!"

Kaito Kuroba immediately exploded: "We agreed that you would help me escape, so I owe you a favor. Today, I've already gone to help that Black Rye stand-in for you, so we're even now!"

"Ah, the favor you mentioned has indeed been repaid, but the favor I did for you—keeping the secret of your identity as Phantom Thief Kid—is still outstanding."

Sano remained defiant: "I'll keep your secret, and you'll keep her identity a secret for me. It's fair."

"Where is the fairness? Hey, don't just talk nonsense!"

Kaito Kuroba glared fiercely at Sano.

Actually, if you think about it carefully, Kaito Kuroba already sensed something was wrong when the two sides made their first "transaction" on the Suzuki Group's ship.

Even though the other party clearly knows your true identity, they still insist on making you "admit it yourself." Their purpose is not pure; it's probably all a setup for today.

Most importantly, Kaito Kuroba sensed a slight familiarity in the "fair trade" the other party had just mentioned.

...In the previous two "transactions", the premise of the latter transaction was based on the premise of the former transaction.

According to the other party, as long as I reveal my true identity, we can proceed with the second transaction.

This may seem like nothing, but if you really look into it, it's not a big deal.

Isn't this just a case of getting something for nothing?

Furthermore, given that he has clearly repaid the favor but the other party has thrown out another handle against him, Kaito Kuroba can say with absolute certainty that...

That guy is a complete scoundrel!

If I believe them again this time, who knows what will happen in the future? I'll definitely be trapped, sinking deeper and deeper until I become a complete tool.

I cannot agree! Absolutely not!

"Yeah."

Then, to Kaito Kuroba's surprise, after he clearly expressed his refusal, Sano simply nodded calmly: "I understand, there's nothing I can do about it."