Kazawa, having finished acting cool, was in a good mood. He sipped his coffee while looking at Conan's heavy expression.
Nice. Finally got to drink some coffee.
A guy who's been staying at a café for days and didn't even get a single cup of coffee—was this really acceptable? Amuro Tooru had only been willing to make him hot cocoa, using the reason "kids shouldn't drink coffee; get good sleep."
Hmph, whatever. If he wouldn't make it for him, he'd just go out and get it himself!
Kazawa's joyful coffee moment, in Conan's eyes, appeared like a villain's calm composure, full of malicious energy. This made Conan frown deeply, showing an expression completely unfitting for his current age. "If you say something so absurd, no one will believe it."
"True. Everything I said just now was my personal guess. I don't have any proof. But I think… someone would be very interested in this guess, right?" Kazawa spoke with villain-like lines, like he was pressuring a righteous protagonist. At the same time, he reached toward the untouched Black Forest cake in front of Conan. "You're not eating it? Then I'll take it."
Conan gritted his teeth secretly. From what Kazawa said, he clearly meant Ran...
Damn it, I need to call the professor right away and severely criticize his lack of quality control!
Of course, the fault wasn't with the black-tech inventor Professor Agasa. Kazawa wasn't randomly shifting blame—he was fully prepared. He rummaged through his four-dimensional pocket for quite a while and pulled out several leather arm bands—probably gear left behind by his senior Niijima Shin. Right now, Kazawa had a row of six arm bands tightly wrapped around his upper right arm underneath his school uniform jacket, forming a makeshift leather armor.
He had no choice. Kazawa really didn't want to test the near-100% hit rate of Conan's tranquilizer needle. In the entire Conan series, only that silver-haired executive could take a shot and not go down. Kazawa didn't think he had that kind of monster-tier stats, so he obediently stacked up defense instead.
The tranquilizer needle aimed at the exposed back of his neck naturally failed to pierce his armor. Kazawa hadn't passed out at all from the beginning.
"Who said I wasn't eating!" Conan snapped a little, grabbed the cake in front of him, scooped a piece with his fork, and stuffed it into his mouth. "...So, what do you mean? Just putting it out there—I'm like this because of an accident."
"Not hard to tell." Kazawa smiled with squinted eyes, resting his chin on his hand. "Kudo Shinichi, you're a brilliant detective, right? Then let's make a deal."
"What are you planning?" Conan stared at Kazawa's blue eyes, which seemed to glow with a reversed light. He felt like there was a trap.
...And Ran even said Kazawa was gentle and easy to get along with? This guy was totally nasty!
"I'll help you keep your identity a secret. From now on, I'll also help cover for you. You clearly don't want to stay a child, right? I'll do my best to help you find a way to change back. In return…" Kazawa's smile disappeared, and he spoke seriously. "You have to take my commission. Help me investigate a case—find out the truth and track down everyone involved."
Conan's cheeks puffed up with cake. This was a tempting offer. While swallowing the cake, he mumbled, "What kind of case?"
"Eat slower. If you like it, you can order another slice." Seeing Conan's stuffed cheeks, Kazawa pushed a glass of juice toward him and then pointed at himself. "My case."
"Eh?" Conan froze for a few seconds, then opened his eyes wide in surprise as he realized Kazawa's hidden meaning.
Kazawa took a piece of paper from his commuting bag and pushed it in front of Conan. "I'll give you all the information I know. For me, this is already a dead end. But for someone like Kudo Shinichi, maybe there's still a breakthrough—a way to prove my innocence."
Conan looked at the paper.
It was Kazawa's "Protective Supervision Disposition Notice."
"Oh right, Ran said you were from Kyoto." Kazawa's accent-free speech made Conan almost forget that the person in front of him was from Kansai. "You didn't transfer here as a student, did you? You're—"
"Here on probation." Kazawa finished the sentence, slowly layering on a gloomy expression. "I'm an ex-offender for a serious assault charge."
Conan instinctively frowned.
Kazawa might be a bit mean and two-faced, but he really didn't seem like someone who would commit a violent crime. On the contrary, Kazawa was even timid and fearful around certain people—like Amuro Tooru, the café waiter.
...Come to think of it, maybe it's not Amuro Tooru he's afraid of, but his juvenile probation officer. It's all connecting now.
Having figured out the logic, Conan had a sudden realization. He picked up the notice again and read it thoroughly. "It is strange. This notice doesn't even mention the basic nature of the case, and there's no personal signature from the prosecutor…"
"I was falsely accused. But I can't do anything about it. The whole case was handled in Kyoto. Without the reviewing officer's approval, I can't even leave Tokyo now. Funny thing is, even to this day, I don't know the plaintiff's name. I have no way to appeal." Kazawa put the paper back in his bag and looked at Conan seriously. "But the savior of the Japanese police might be able to help, right?"
Conan's frown deepened. His sharp eyes locked on Kazawa. "You mean… the police, even the prosecutors, are involved?"
"That's why I have no one I can trust anymore." Kazawa once again entered that gloomy, nearly about-to-go-dark state. In a soft voice, he said, "I'm a victim of this hopeless system. All I can do is pray that someone outside the system can save me."
"...You said just now that you'd help cover for me, right." Conan turned his head, not letting Kazawa see the worried look on his face. What Kazawa said was right—he wasn't a good actor, and he couldn't hide his emotions at all. "Thinking about it… having a helper who lives downstairs doesn't sound bad. Being a useless elementary schooler is too annoying."
Kazawa had clearly lost faith in the legal system. This was a dangerously pushed-to-the-edge state. A detective who pursued justice couldn't sit by and watch someone like this fall into darkness.
"So you'll take my commission?" Kazawa retracted some of his almost-about-to-snap evil aura. If this were a manga panel, you'd say the light had returned to his eyes.
"...Order a chiffon cake too." Conan bit his fork, pretending to be annoyed. "This one's too sweet."
Kazawa laughed and reached out his hand to the little detective. "Then, it's a deal."
「I am thou... thou art I...」
「Thou hast established a new bond...」
「This bond shall become the wings of freedom that break thy chains...」
「I, the mask of the death god newly born, am blessed by the winds of fortune...」
「To soar toward the endgame, I now grant thee strength...」
Wait—hold on a second! Why is the Arcana card Death?!
Kazawa trembled, holding out a hand like Er Kang.
Unfortunately, Lione didn't care at all about his soul-crushing shock. The interface slapped down in front of him with a shattering sound.
[Cooperation: Edogawa Conan / Kudo Shinichi]
[Arcana: Death Rank 1]
[Though small in size, his mind remains sharp—the great detective who knows all. The truth is always... only one!]
Finally! The long overdue intro line!
…You want to ask Kazawa? If you don't already know the legendary aura of this protagonist of the world, and need it specially explained, then I suggest you start over from the beginning. You won't survive more than three episodes.
[Skill acquired: "Presence Concealment Lv1"]