Three cases in two days—maybe the recent streak temporarily drained the local case supply. After that, Kazawa finally got a few quiet days of school. While getting more familiar with Mōri Ran and Suzuki Sonoko, he also enjoyed some rare, incident-free high school life.
By the way, that little card he handed Ohara Kazuo earlier? Just one of dozens of templates Kazawa had made, like those slip-through-the-door flyers.
Considering how overly "pure" Beika Town's folks were—what with all the landmarks, cases, and would-be criminals packed in together—Kazawa had come up with several plans. If a case happened at a noteworthy location and he had time and motivation to intervene, he'd go all in—send out a custom notice to announce the Phantom Thieves of Hearts in dramatic fashion, boost their fame and style. If he couldn't or didn't want to stop a case, and it ended up being the kind with a body, then he'd just join the detective crowd and try to get close to any new red-side characters.
And if it was a case like that truck crashing into a store—whether the crime succeeded or not—and the victim didn't really deserve to die, then he'd do his best to save them, leaving behind a Phantom Thief warning letter to encourage them to turn over a new leaf.
Forget whether it was really about redemption. Just ask yourself: did they or did they not change for the better?
All three approaches were working out pretty well so far. Thanks to his traps that essentially stripped off Conan's disguise—no, his cover—Kazawa's identity was now deeply tied to the red side. All that was left was to wait for the characters to show up one by one. He still had lots of empty Tarot slots—anyone could become his wings!
But calm days don't last long in the world of Conan.
After half a day of class, Kazawa learned that a three-day weekend was about to start that afternoon. He immediately had a hunch: something was coming.
Sure enough, after having lunch back at the café, Kazawa casually looked up from his homework by the window—and spotted the Mōri father and daughter coming downstairs with Conan. Along with them was a plump woman in a black formal suit.
She opened the backseat of a small Beetle, and without giving Conan any say, stuffed him inside.
Once she shut the door, she gave the Mōris a polite bow. "Thank you for looking after Conan these past few days. We'll be sure to visit again sometime to express our thanks properly…"
Ran beamed and waved at Conan through the car window. "Be sure to email us often when you get to America, Conan!"
Inside the car, Conan sat up stiffly, clearly not going along with this. He slapped and pounded on the car window, his face turning red in frustration.
Ah… this setup was very familiar. The Kudōs had arrived…
Disguised as "Edogawa Fumiyo," Kudō Yukiko showed no visible traces of makeup or disguise even under Kazawa's close scrutiny. He was now thoroughly convinced that in the world of Conan, disguise techniques were basically magic dressed up as stage tricks—completely ridiculous.
As the story progressed, the main plot would never be free of disguises—black side had a disguise expert, red side had one too, and everyone ended up in a giant mask-ripping showdown. Literally everyone could peel off their face at any moment…
If he got the chance, Kazawa definitely wanted to try this skill out. He wasn't sure if Yukiko had a Tarot card—given that she and her husband were always abroad and didn't get that much screentime, it seemed unlikely. Not that Kazawa had pinned much hope on her; he was more interested in the future appearance of Kaitō Kid.
But today was a chance to make contact, and Kazawa wasn't going to waste it.
While Conan, helpless inside the car like a pinned bug in a display case, mouthed silent pleas for help, he suddenly felt someone watching him. He looked past the totally oblivious Mōri pair and met Kazawa's concerned and shocked gaze.
This neighbor—the only one who knew his true identity—just happened to notice! Yes! Hurry up, Kazawa, get over here! Conan banged on the car window with all his might.
...No use. That window wasn't budging. So how did Kazawa manage to punch through one with his bare hands again?
"Kogorō-san, Ran-san," Kazawa didn't hesitate to drop his homework, standing up and walking straight toward the group. "This is?"
"This is Conan's mom! Miss Edogawa Fumiyo!" Ran said cheerfully, clearly happy that Conan was reuniting with family. "She's here to take him back to America!"
Kazawa hesitated for a second, then looked cautiously at "Edogawa Fumiyo." He walked over to the car's back door where Conan was sitting and casually grabbed the handle. "Leaving already? At least come say goodbye to your big brother. You haven't finished the book I lent you, right?"
Unfortunately, as soon as Conan got in earlier, Fumiyo had activated the child locks on all doors. It wasn't going to open. Kazawa turned his gaze to her politely, as if asking for permission.
"Sorry. Normally, I'd love to chat more," she said, glancing at her watch, "but our flight is in four hours. We're really pressed for time, so I hope you understand."
She gave Kazawa a once-over, subtle but clearly sizing him up, then bowed again and got into the driver's seat.
Kazawa's brows furrowed. As the car began to pull away, the Mōris turned to go home. Seeing Kazawa still standing there, they chuckled.
"You really like kids, huh?" Kogorō said. "I get irritated just looking at that little brat. Still, he's better off with his parents."
Conan, now glued to the rear window, saw Kazawa clench his fists and give him a firm, determined look. Those blue eyes of his were full of resolve.
Then, unbelievably, Kazawa pushed off the ground—and started chasing the car on foot.
Panicked, Conan quickly retreated back into his seat and turned to distract the strange "aunt" beside him, trying to keep her attention away from Kazawa.
"Who are you really?!"
"Edogawa Fumiyo" pushed up her glasses, letting the glare cover her eyes completely, and said in a mysterious tone, "I'm your mother, Conan-chan."
"You're not! My real mother is—"
"—Kudō Yukiko, right?" she interrupted before he could finish.
Conan's face went pale. Fumiyo kept going like she was reading from a biography: "The genius actress who wowed the world at 19, won several prestigious awards at 19, charmed audiences with her incredible acting and beauty… Later, she fell in love with the novelist Kudō Yūsaku and retired at her peak to start a family. They've lived overseas ever since and had one son, who is…"
"…you. Kudō Shinichi."
Conan was reeling. He didn't even register how bizarrely self-praising that whole speech was. His mind was spinning—could this woman be connected to the people in black who drugged him?
Fumiyo suddenly pulled a small lady's pistol from her pocket and pointed the loaded gun right at Conan's forehead. Her voice turned chilling. "Don't even think about running, kid. Bullets don't have eyes. Be good and come with me…"
No way he was just going to sit and wait! Remembering Kazawa's stunts from before, Conan gritted his teeth, and as they reached an intersection, he slammed his foot onto the pedal at Fumiyo's feet.
The Beetle shot forward into traffic, nearly causing a pile-up before Fumiyo quickly slammed the brakes.
Seizing the moment, Conan undid the door lock, flung the door open, and bolted.