"Yes, it's him!" Akagi Ryouko glanced at the time on her phone, tears clinging to her lashes. "The match has already started an hour ago. If we can't find Mamoru quickly... what if..."
Naturally lowering her hand, she allowed the very short Conan to see the note she was holding. Kazawa followed Akagi Ryouko to the apartment building where the Akagi family lived.
"This is the note Mamoru left behind..." Akagi Ryouko picked up an irregularly shaped piece of paper from beside the fax machine. "It was on the dining table when I came in this morning. The game, the game had already started..."
Kazawa took the note, pondered for a moment with a thoughtful expression, then turned back and switched on the television.
The sports channel was broadcasting the match of the Tokyo Aoyama team. Kazawa took a glance at the match time and murmured, "Then we still have half an hour left. Miss Akagi, may I take a look around the house?"
Akagi Ryouko's eyes were fixed on Akagi Hideo on the screen. The commentator was enthusiastically praising "God-Leg A-Hideo's" performance, while Akagi Hideo himself looked grim and deeply furrowed his brows. He had accidentally scored a goal in the first half, and was probably now worried that his missing brother might suffer for it.
"Mm, as long as it helps." Akagi Ryouko, worriedly watching the score on the screen, didn't mind that Kazawa brought a primary schooler along for the investigation.
The two quickly found Akagi Mamoru's bedroom, which had been ransacked by the culprit. Kazawa silently handed the note to Conan and gave him a pat on the back.
"Eh?" Conan was just about to closely examine the note when Kazawa gave him a push toward the center of the room with a "good luck" expression. "You want me to investigate alone?"
Kazawa spread his hands and casually leaned against the doorway. "You're the detective. I'm just the innocent neighbor covering for the unlucky one. Of course it's your job. The client even pretended to be your girlfriend just to get Kudo Shinichi to help. That's some sincere trust—you can't let her down."
For some reason, it always felt like this guy enjoyed watching him struggle... Conan side-eyed Kazawa with a deadpan expression before continuing his inspection.
Kazawa watched with amusement as all sorts of age-inappropriate expressions flickered across Conan's little round face, mentally checking out.
Sigh, without Ran here to wreak havoc, it feels like a waste of a ticket. This case isn't that flashy, and the whole plot push relies on Mouri Ran's jealousy engine to chase Conan to the ends of the earth. Missing that part just doesn't feel right.
Should he bring it up during school, like, casually "leak" a story about "Kudo Shinichi's girlfriend coming to find him"?
Ehh, too easy to get exposed. Only he and Conan know about this, and Conan would definitely come after him. Better not.
Still, it's fine. There will be plenty of chances to stir the pot later. Mouri Ran's suspicions toward Conan tend to flare up repeatedly anyway.
Beside him, Conan had already uncovered an empty box and was digging through the messy pile, trying to find the missing game cartridge. He said, "Stop just standing there! Come help me find the game!"
Kazawa sighed and didn't move toward the mountain of junk. Instead, he went to the TV with the game console plugged in and flipped the power switch, lazily pointing, "There's a cartridge in here—is this the one?"
Conan, suspicious of his half-hearted effort, walked over with a sigh. "Check the cover properly. It has the name right on it, there's no wa—"
He stopped mid-sentence as his eyes landed on the saved game screen. It showed the characters' levels, classes, and names. The hero's name was "Mamoru" in katakana, and the others were "Hideo," "Ryouko," and—
"Naoki!" Conan jumped toward the screen, staring at the last name, then pulled out the note to compare again. "This note! It doesn't mean 'Brother, help Mamoru survive.' The parts before and after were torn! It's referring to the game characters! It means 'Naoki-oniichan' has to help the in-game Mamoru survive!"
"Naoki... Naoki... The teammate who joined the team with Akagi Hideo this year, his name is Kamimura Naoki!" Conan looked sharply at Kazawa.
Kazawa obligingly struck the classic detective pose, stroking his chin. "Looks like the one who took Akagi Mamoru... is this guy."
The two exchanged glances and both nodded. They found Akagi Ryouko in the living room, hands clasped, eyes glued to the game.
"Miss Akagi, do you know someone named Kamimura Naoki?" Kazawa dutifully played the role of microphone.
"I do. He's Hideo's close friend, lives in the apartment across from here, on the sixth floor," Akagi Ryouko reluctantly tore her eyes from the screen. "He often comes to play games with Mamoru—he's really good at them."
As she spoke, her expression gradually froze, clearly understanding Kazawa's implication.
"Then we better hurry," Kazawa smiled, grabbing Conan under his arm like a cat, "Can't let the suspect ruin 'God-Leg A-Hideo's' glorious record."
With that, he pulled Akagi Ryouko up with one hand and carried the bewildered Conan with the other, bolting out the door—still remembering to kick it closed behind them with his heel.
"Wait—"
"Kazawa!"
Their protests were entirely ignored by the running Kazawa.
The free-form martial arts he'd freeloaded off Amuro To might have shown great agility and offensive power in combat, but how well they worked in real life still needed testing.
His physical strength, however, had definitely improved—enough to sprint full-speed while dragging one adult and one child.
Since Ran wouldn't get the chance to kick a door down this time...
In just two or three minutes, Kazawa reached the sixth floor of the opposite building. He set the dizzy Conan down and motioned for the panting Akagi Ryouko to knock.
Akagi Ryouko glanced in admiration at Kazawa's not-so-bulky frame, sighing that appearances were deceiving, and stepped up to ring the bell.
"Ding dong—ding dong—"
After two or three chimes, the intercom finally crackled with a male voice. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Ryouko!" Akagi Ryouko called loudly into the intercom.
The man paused for two seconds before replying casually, "Oh, Ryouko... what brings you here so early?"
"It's urgent! Just open the door, Naoki!"
The intercom cut off. A long moment passed, and just as the anxious Akagi Ryouko was about to knock, the lock finally clicked and the door opened a crack.
There was a door chain! Conan frowned.
"What's going on?" A long-faced man peeked through the gap, eyeing Conan and then Akagi Ryouko.
Because of the angle, Kamimura Naoki didn't see Kazawa standing to the side—only a high school girl and a kid, which made him relax a little.
"Can I come in for a bit?" Akagi Ryouko lunged toward the narrow gap, trying to push through. "I'm sorry, but can you please open the door?"
"Ah, it's... not really convenient right now, my girlfriend is inside..." Kamimura Naoki tensed, forcing a dry laugh.
Akagi Ryouko clenched her teeth and shouted into the apartment, "Mamoru! Mamoru! Are you in there? Answer me!"
"Hey, that's enough—" Naoki tried to push her back as she forced the door, a trace of hostility flashing across his face.
"Miss Ryouko." A hand landed on her shoulder, gently pulling her back from the door. "Step aside a little."
"?" Akagi Ryouko turned around in surprise.
"?" Conan also looked up curiously, only to see Kazawa exhale and raise his arms.
W-wait a minute—is Kazawa going to—
Flashes of past childhood feats shot through Conan's mind, his pupils trembling. What the hell? Is everyone in the world trained in martial arts except Kudo Shinichi? If Kazawa could hear his thoughts, he'd probably answer: Yes, exactly. You're the red team's weakest link.
Kazawa gathered strength and delivered a powerful kick to the security door in front of him.
BANG—! A loud crash rang out as the entire door tore loose from its hinges. The chain, as fragile as a strand of hair in the face of such force, snapped instantly.
Pinned behind the door, Kamimura Naoki was sent flying with the slab of metal and slammed hard into the floor.
"Huff—" Kazawa peeked in to assess the result.
The door wasn't too badly deformed, only a bit dented in the middle. The frame wasn't shattered either, but the whole thing had been kicked off. Kazawa did a quick assessment of his combat power—half a step below Mouri Ran.
Not bad. Good enough. Kazawa nodded in satisfaction.