Conan: The Phantom Heart Thief

"You really didn't do anything yesterday afternoon?"

"Nope." Kazawa spread his hands innocently. "Just went to school, came back as usual. Oh, and I stopped by Xingchuan's place on the way."

Amuro Tooru put down the breakfast he had prepared for Kazawa, leaned on the bar counter, and looked at his innocent expression with suspicion. After thinking it over, he emphasized, "If the organization skips me and gives you any missions... you must tell me."

He wasn't worried Kazawa would recklessly act on his own. But since Gin brought it up...

First of all, the organization has never been trustworthy... If Gin even said Kazawa is "proficient in sniping," then his sniping skills must be excellent. It wouldn't be surprising if Gin suddenly had a brain spasm one day and decided Chianti and the others were useless and called Kumail to help him finish a hit job.

Secondly, Amuro himself wasn't too confident in Kazawa anymore.

From the moment of that shocking "death of Karasawa Akira," Amuro realized clearly that Kazawa was actually a natural-born actor, someone whose appearance completely fooled people.

It was outrageous to think about — Kazawa had done so much secret work under the noses of both Bourbon and Ley, and yet Amuro didn't notice anything until that forged video evidence hit him hard.

This guy was a master liar. Amuro was certain Kazawa had been in contact with Akai Shuichi, and he himself had no clue.

Kazawa paused, perhaps feeling that his answer had been too lazy, and rephrased, "Maybe he heard some gunshots or something when he called me… I've been taking Xingchuan out for training a lot lately."

To be fair, Kazawa was actually telling the truth this time.

Training the Phantom Thieves was still training, right?

"Called you?" Amuro narrowed his eyes sharply. "What did he want?"

"Nothing serious. It's related to the Tsuchiguchi family," Kazawa brushed it off casually. "Xingchuan's with me, so don't worry, I won't let anything slip."

Kazawa had no plans to tell Amuro about Tsuchiguchi Shigehiko.

To these iron-blooded Red Party members, they would never accept Shigehiko dying the way he did. But that death was a promise Kazawa made to Hoshikawa Hikaru — he wouldn't let it get any more complicated.

Amuro stared at him for a few seconds, then reluctantly accepted the excuse.

Thinking about the clues he got from Gin that afternoon, Furuya Rei's sharp aura resurfaced. "Kazawa, I have some questions about your parents' research. Of course, I'm not asking about their specific work or field… I just want to confirm something."

"Hmm... I can't guarantee I'll answer." Kazawa gave him a heads-up, then pushed his empty porcelain cup toward Amuro. "One more latte, three sugars."

Starting to negotiate, huh... Amuro shook his head but still took the cup. "Kids shouldn't drink so much coffee. Aren't you afraid you won't sleep at night?"

"Don't worry, I have high caffeine tolerance." Kazawa, who only needed to close his eyes to enter the Velvet Room, had no fear of insomnia. "Go on, senpai. What do you want to ask?"

"Your parents' research field was definitely related to psychology and mental health." Amuro recalled the drug formula Kazawa had given him and chose his words carefully. "The organization hasn't been able to fully grasp their research. Otherwise, they wouldn't have needed to act against you. You're the only one left in the world who knows the entire progress… So, do you think Joker's methods are related to their research?"

This was the main point.

Kazawa put on a pensive look and began carefully constructing a narrative.

Amuro worked the coffee machine, frothing milk and preparing the latte Kazawa requested, all while watching his face closely.

It wasn't hard to imagine Joker being linked to the Karasawa couple. After all, he clearly demonstrated spiritual-level influence over others.

The first group that came to mind capable of reaching that level was Kazawa Ikawa and his team.

Because Joker was suspected to be tied to the organization, Zero Division had never stopped investigating him. The conclusion they reached was unexpected.

Joker's techniques were bizarre, his results accurate and fast. It wasn't an exaggeration to call it "spiritual-level targeted sniping."

From this, Zero Division concluded that Joker likely wasn't deeply connected to the organization — possibly even their enemy.

If the organization really had the ability to completely alter someone's mind, they wouldn't keep it under wraps. Undercover agents like Furuya Rei would've been discovered and eliminated long ago.

Gin's message today made things even clearer — this man wasn't just not with the organization; he might be actively targeting them.

The organization didn't understand him and was wary of his actions — that said enough.

No matter how Joker pulled it off, everything he's done so far has helped society. He hasn't hurt anyone and even stopped multiple violent incidents. Considering his repeated declarations, he seems to be trying to cut off serious crime at its root.

Naïve and reckless? Sure. But his motives were at least good.

Someone like that — the enemy of our enemy — was worth trying to collaborate with.

A seasoned undercover agent like Amuro wouldn't give up a potential ally so easily. Just imagine — how easy would it be to crush the organization's conspiracies with Joker's help?

But before any contact, they had to assess how dangerous he really was.

Who better to understand those abilities than the true heir to the Kazawa family?

If Kazawa could hear his thoughts, he'd applaud and say: "You're absolutely right."

No one knew Joker better than him.

After a few dozen seconds of contemplation, Kazawa came up with a decent outline and spoke solemnly: "To talk about this, we need to start with Xingchuan Hui. Last time I told you, when Xingchuan was 10, his father threw him into the organization for training... He's the same age as me, so the year he was thrown in..."

"...Was the same year your parents were taken by the organization." Amuro's eyes lit up.

"Exactly." The coffee machine hissed as it finished brewing. Kazawa watched Amuro work it smoothly and spoke with emotion, "Ever since he joined the organization, he's been subjected to various mental control methods. They ran all kinds of strange experiments on him... The experiments all failed. But in my opinion, it wasn't because the theories themselves were unworkable."

At this point, Kazawa stopped talking.

The more you say, the easier it is to mess up. You can't drift too far from reality, or Amuro will see through you.

Maybe Joker was a wild thief. Maybe he was a test subject. Maybe even a cyborg created by his parents [??]... Believe what you want.

I'm done talking. The smart ones will figure out the rest.

Sure enough, Amuro didn't disappoint. He followed the logic on his own: "Because your parents didn't cooperate, right? Did you find any related records in the documents they left you?"

Kazawa raised both index fingers, crossed them in front of his lips, signaling: "Mouth sealed."

Amuro took it as confirmation — Kazawa wasn't in a position to say more. His mind raced with theories about Joker's origins.

Kazawa took the coffee topped with Amuro's signature milk foam art and waited happily for his imagination to finish.

Don't ask me. I don't know either. No matter what you say, I'll just nod and say, "Yes, yes, yes."

"It seems we need to talk to him," Amuro finally concluded after two minutes. He picked up the newspaper, his eyes sharp. "Next time he makes a move, I'll try to get the police involved... Maybe that'll force him to make contact."

Kazawa nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

Well said. If I don't plan something great for my next move, I'll really be letting you down.

By the way... has Kid made any moves lately? Will he come join the fun?

Just imagine — Division Two chasing Kid, Public Security chasing Joker, notices flying through the sky, Phantom Thieves swooping across Tokyo skies...

What a sight that would be. Kazawa stroked his chin, quite pleased with the thought.

—

Downstairs, the fake agents were interested in Joker, but the kids upstairs were no less obsessed — they clutched their phones like internet-addicted teens and spammed Joker with emails.

[Are you okay? Were you hurt in the explosion? Ran wants to apologize for hurting you by accident. She also brought your coat back safely. If you need it, I can return it secretly.

The police questioned the woman who traded with Gin. She said she was just picking something up for someone else. She didn't know Gin or what the item was, but said it was valuable.

They're still chasing leads, but I doubt they'll find much. If they dig too deep, there might be more deaths...

Anyway, thank you. Whatever your reason was, you really saved everyone on the train.

…How did you know the box that woman was holding had the bomb?]

Conan typed, his head spinning.

He didn't know if it was the wind on the train, or the emotional rollercoaster of yesterday, or just exhaustion from the trip...

Either way, Conan caught a cold when he got back.

Normally he's tough. Even getting hit by a pipe Gin-level hard only gave him a headache for two days. But this cold hit him hard. He now had a high fever, dizziness, and blurred vision. He stared at the screen — the words wobbled.

"Conan..." Ran touched his forehead, worry in her eyes. She tucked him back under the covers. "Don't play on your phone if you're sick. Get some rest."

"I'm fine. Not sleepy..." Conan muttered, voice hoarse, pulling the blanket over his face.

If he weren't so sick, he'd have crawled back to Kudo's house to see if Joker came back.

Now he could only lie in bed, silently waiting for a reply.

Joker was especially slow today. Conan waited over ten minutes, nearly asleep, before his phone buzzed at last.

[You sure ask a lot, little detective. Don't worry, a phantom thief never dies ugly.

Gin is still active in Tokyo. If it's you, you'll catch him.

As for the coat — keep it or toss it, up to you. Though you can't deliver the message, do thank the beautiful and powerful young lady for recognizing me.

PS. If you ask me to cover for you again, I'll be charging more. I seriously thought I might die this time…]

It took Conan five or six minutes to read the lines, but he finally understood what Joker meant.

...Looks like he really did get punched hard by Ran.

And he avoided the last question on purpose, didn't he?

How did Joker know? No matter how much Conan thought about it, he couldn't figure it out — and that made him even more curious.

Never mind, I'll ask him in person in a few days, once I get over this cold...

Conan sniffled, curled up under the blanket, hugging the hot water bottle Ran gave him.

Just then—

"Conan, Conan, you there?" A familiar voice called.

Conan forced his eyes open and saw Kazawa peeking in from the office doorway.

Kazawa... Strange. It's only been a day, but it feels like he's been gone a lifetime.

Conan slowly turned over in the blanket, curled up on the sofa, and couldn't even speak.

"Caught a cold, huh..." Kazawa came over, pressed a cool palm to Conan's forehead, and muttered, "Yep, you've got a fever."

"Kazawa-kun!" Ran came down with a cooling pad. She looked up and saw Kazawa crouching beside Conan and greeted him, "What brings you here?"

"I heard you were caught up in the Shinkansen bombing. Everyone okay?" Kazawa asked about "everyone," but his eyes were fixed on Conan — which made Conan feel kind of warm inside.

My friend knows me well. With something that big, Kazawa must've figured I was involved.

But Kazawa's gaze was not what Conan thought.

He had just finished replying to Conan's email and came up to observe how the little detective's reasoning was going.

Truth is, Kazawa hadn't finished writing Joker's backstory yet. He planned to slowly leak some info about Joker and the Kazawa couple to Conan — maybe let Director Conan help him write the character's script.

But as soon as he came up...

Conan had a cold.

That was a huge deal!

In the entire Detective Conan series, whenever Conan catches a cold or gets sick, it means a major case or plot twist is coming.

Since this was the first time Conan had a serious cold since Kazawa moved in, he figured...

—

"You there?" a bright young voice called from the office door.

The three of them looked over, and Conan squinted.

The boy didn't wait for a reply. He knocked on the open door, adjusted his baseball cap, and walked right in.

His sharp eyes first locked onto Kazawa — noting his distinctive hair and eye color — and lost interest immediately. He looked around, then turned back and greeted them.

Dark skin, thick Kansai accent, and a face that looked familiar upon closer inspection...

Kazawa blinked, smiled kindly.

"I'm looking for Kudo Shinichi." The boy lifted his baseball cap confidently. "Hurry up and get him out here!"