The m, just as Ran reparing to leave for school, the Mouri family received three ued guests.
The Kudo couple, their faces lined with sorrow, stood at the door. With them was a young boy, no older than seven ht, wearing gsses.
ing downstairs from the third floor, Ran froze when she saw them.
"Aunt Yukiko, Uncle Yusaku?"
"Aren't you both overseas? Why did you e back so suddenly?"
"Ah…"
Kudo Yukiko let out a deep sigh, hesitation flickering in her eyes before she finally spoke.
"Ran, Yusaku and I returned because of Shin-."
"Shinichi?"
"Didn't he say he was iigating some cases?"
Seeing how Ran was still in the dark, Yukiko's worry deepehough she didn't say much more.
At this moment, Kudo Yusaku, his expression heavy, lowered his voice.
"Ran, Shinichi… he's in trouble."
"!?"
"The police found him over the weekend, te at night, in ay alley…"
Ran froze pletely, her body stiffening at those words.
"That… 't be true, it?"
"It's true."
Mouri Kogoro, who had been standing nearby, couldn't bear to watch his daughter break down, but the truth was unavoidable.
When he had first heard the news, even he had bee speechless.
He had never been fond of that brat.
Not only was Shinichi stantly hanging around his daughter, but the boy was always butting into cases, encroag on his turf. How could Kogoro possibly tolerate that? It was no wonder he would often curse the kid out.
But despite everything, Kogoro still had high hopes for Shinichi's abilities.
It was a shame, though.
For all his talent, the boy cked the self-preservation to match it.
He was thteous, too driven to chase after danger, and it had finally caught up to him.
The o uhe truth, no matter the cost, had ultimately been his downfall.
Thinking ba it, Mouri Kogoro sighed heavily.
"That brat charged ahead without a sed thought."
"As someone who used to be a police officer, I 't help but admire his ce. But…"
He paused, his voice growing softer.
"…as a former officer, I have to say he was too reckless. So reckless that he fot even the most basic precautions."
"Or maybe," Kogoro tinued after a moment, "he didn't trust the police to hahings properly from the start."
"Still, I 't say he was entirely wrong."
Kogoro knew all too well the fws within the police force. Many officers, especially those iropolitan Police Department, cked dedication to their duties. They simply coasted by, doing just enough to keep their positions without risking too much.
Given that reality, Shinichi's mistrust wasirely unfounded.
Maybe that was why the boy chose to face danger head-on, rather than relying ohorities.
Kogoro let out another deep sigh.
"It really is a shame…"
"If only that kid had been more worldly, more experienced with the darker sides of society, maybe he wouldn't have been so impulsive."
"Maybe then he would've known to stop himself from rushing forward like that."
"No matter how you look at it, that boy was still too young…"
"If he'd just waited a few more years, grown older and joihe police properly, he could've hahings so much better."
"What a waste…"
As Kogoro spoke, Ran covered her mouth with her hands, her shoulders trembling. She looked like she couldn't bear to hear any more.
Seeing this, Kogoro shook his head helplessly.
"What do you pn to do now?"
"Do you have any leads on the culprit?"
"I know a little," Yusaku replied, "but it's plicated."
"That's why Yukiko and I have decided to start from overseas."
"Iional criminals, huh…"
Kogoro nodded in uanding.
sidering the scale of the case, tag it domestically might not be the best approach. With their es abroad, they could navigate the iigation with fewer restris.
"If there's anything I help with, just let me know," Kogoro offered. "I have a few tacts in Beika who might be able to assist."
"Thank you," Yusaku said sincerely, "but it's better if you stay out of this."
"Digging too deeply into Shinichi's death could be dangerous. As long as no one iigates too closely, the ones behind this won't act. But if you dig up the wrong information, things could get very messy."
"I see. Definitely sounds like trouble."
Kogoro could imagihe kind of danger Yusaku and Yukiko were fag.
Any attempt to iigate the people behind the ses could expose them to risks, and one wrong move could drag them into a world of chaos.
Still, Kogoro khey wouldn't back down.
As Shinichi's parents, Yusaku and Yukiko wouldn't simply let things go.
"But there is something we'd like your help with," Yusaku said, gesturing toward the boy standing beside them.
"This child."
Kogoro turned his attention to the bespectacled boy, who looked oddly familiar.
Then, it clicked.
"Wait, don't tell me this kid is…"
"Mr. Mouri," Yusaku cut in firmly, "this child has no e to us anymore."
"…I see."
Kogoro studied the boy's sincere eyes, quickly pieg things together.
It seemed that traveling abroad with a child would be inve, so the couple wao leave him in Kogoro's care.
"No problem. I'll look after him."
Kreed without hesitation.
Relieved, Yusaku nodded before motioning to Yukiko.
"Kogoro, here's some money for his living expenses."
Kogoro accepted the envelope instinctively, but when he ope, he nearly dropped it in shock.
Inside was a bank statement with a bance of 500 million yen.
"Are you two pnning to go to war or something?" he blurted out.
"No," Yusaku said calmly. "We're just preparing for the worst."
"We'll officially leave uhe pretense of beiionally unstable, using it as an excuse to rex abroad."
"We're not stupid enough to charge in recklessly. We'll only assist local w enfort with their iigations."
"As long as we don't dig too deeply, they won't target us."
"We're just buying time and creating excuses to interfere with their pns."
"Got it," Kogoro said, tug the statement away.
"Just don't overdo it, okay? There's still a kid here to think about."
"Don't worry. We know how dangerous this is, and we're not taking it lightly."
Yusaku's voice was steady, his resolve clear.
He wasn't about to risk everything.
The goal was simple: stay away from the anization while quietly helping w enfort.
Providing information was ohing, but direvolvement was out of the question.
