"Shinichi hung up the phone?" Hikari Yuki asked when she saw Mouri Ran had finished.
"Ah yes. Do you want to talk with him, Sister Yuki?"
"No need. I can just talk with him when he finally comes back." Hikari Yuki shook her head gently. "I'm going back now that the case is solved~."
"Ah, Sister Yuki, if you already knew the answer, why did you not say it from the very beginning?" Sonoko interrupted from the side.
When she heard Hikari Yuki answer her question, she strongly suspected that Hikari Yuki had already known the answer in advance.
This woman's deduction skill is really strong!
Why is she not a detective?
"Will you believe me if I said that I only have the idea after hearing Ran's words?" Hikari Yuki blinked her eyes playfully.
"Sister Yuki, you can't use the same excuse repeatedly." Even Mouri Ran looked at Hikari Yuki helplessly.
She had already used this same excuse before in the past when they went out together with Shinichi and all.
"Haha." Hikari Yuki chuckled. She could sense that Jodie was staring in her direction and might be curious, but she didn't care that much. Her apartment is clean and her weapons were not placed there, but it might be a bit troublesome.
So if the FBI were to try breaking into her home, she could just send the evidence to the public security~.
As for what they would do afterwards, that was not her business.
"I have told you that I'm not a detective and I don't have the hobby of solving case," Hikari Yuki said helplessly.
Because it's her painful job….
"You're amazing at deduction, Hikari San. Have you ever considered becoming a law enforcer?" Jodie asked from the side. Hikari Yuki's speed in solving cases was comparable to that of Kudo Shinichi.
Both of them have only heard about the case once but they already knew the truth.
It was truly a waste for her not to become a detective or related profession.
"No, I'm too lazy for that." Hikari Yuki shook her head helplessly.
Lies came out of her mouth so easily that it was amazing.
"Besides, it's good for you to try being a detective occasionally, right Ran?" Hikari Yuki looked at Mouri Ran gently.
Mouri Ran blushed, but she smiled.
Sonoko sighed, but she accepted this explanation. She then changed the conversation, "Do you want to join us, Sister Yuki?"
"No, I better not."
After refusing again, Hikari Yuki separated from the other three people and then went back while carrying the plastic bags. She didn't want to come to Jodie's apartment and it was really unnecessary for her to be involved with the other party too deeply.
It was indeed her bad luck for coming out and encountering this case.
"Sister Yuki really doesn't like going out with friends that much." Sonoko sighed.
"Have you known Hikari San for a long time?" Jodie asked as if casually.
"Well, it's been four years?" Mouri Ran was not entirely sure of the exact time.
"I have never seen her before…"
"Sister Yuki studied abroad for a long time! She only went back during holiday and then again, she didn't usually stay in her apartment. Not long ago, she went on a long trip to another prefecture." Sonoko shook her head helplessly.
"Yes, but I rarely see Sister Yuki go with anyone…."
The two girls talked about Hikari Yuki due to Jodie's leading the conversation and she could guess a thing or two. This girl is a university student who had only recently graduated, seemingly coming from a relatively well off family, and often travels around.
She was not too close to Mouri Ran and Suzuki Sonoko.
Moreover, Hikari Yuki didn't show much interest in them and it was the two girls who usually came to find Hikari Yuki. They did play together occasionally, but Hikari Yuki was busy with her study before so there was not much chance.
These alone had put Jodie's suspicion down.
If anything, they looked more like ordinary neighbours who didn't know each other that well but could still talk about some things. After all, they were all girls and the most common topic was naturally about makeup, boys, and other gossip.
…
That incident passed quietly.
Two days later, it was time for the off season halloween party.
The reason they knew was naturally because no. 2 shared it. He heard it when he paid a visit to Mouri Kogoro's detective group. While he didn't spend that much time with Ran and Sonoko, he still came from time to time.
He shared what he knew to the group.
[High School Student [2]: The off season halloween party is the time when Conan impersonated Ai to meet with Jodie and Vermouth. But Ai will appear midway… I don't remember the details anymore. Do you plan to participate in this matter?
ICPO Undercover Agent in Winery[1]: I'll probably stay far away, but Vermouth invited me to come with her. *sigh* My holiday is gone.
Undercover Agent from Metropolitan Public Security [7]: YOU HAVE HOLIDAY?
ICPO Undercover Agent in Winery[1]: Holiday on the surface. I still have a lot of work from Interpol and other things every day. Don't you have a holiday too?
Undercover Agent from Metropolitan Public Security [7]: Ever since I came to Japan, I have been thrown to the training grounds whenever I have no mission! Gin is ruthless! He's truly a big model worker!
Megumi Aiko [4]: RIP
Drug Dealer [3]: Did you face Gin directly? I don't think he'll have so much free time to care about you with his workload.
Undercover Agent from Metropolitan Public Security [7]: Of course not. If he comes to see me everyday, I'll have tragic nightmares every night. It was Bailey who came and dragged me to the training ground every single day. He knows my mission too, so I can't run away.
High School Student [2]: AHH, Bailey. So it's still him who's in charge of the training. I kind of miss that guy.
Kami Shita [6]: Even though I don't like my work as a police officer, I feel that it's still much better than the Black Organization in any way.
Public Security Officer [5]: … I have no holiday either.
Drug Dealer [3]: Pfft, for a moment, I'm glad that I'm an unemployed man on the surface who didn't have to work at all.
Artist [11]: As a new artist, I have a lot of training to be done. Even though all I'm trying to do is to appear as a cute cat man on TV, I still have to work hard that it's tiring.
Journalist [12]: I have some breaks from time to time. The work here is competitive and since I don't really have much goal, I have enough fun doing small things and appear from time to time.
Doctor [9]: Doctor didn't have any holiday.
Corrupted FBI [8]: I make my own break.
High School Student [2]: …
Drug Dealer [3]: …
Kami Shita [6]: …]
…
In any case, the rest of the conversation was nothing more than meaningless complaints about work days and holidays.
Kurokawa Saki headed over to the location and looked at the scene from a distance. She decisively picked a place more than 1000 yards away so that she would not be caught.
'Calvados is there and Vermouth has come. Hmm? No. 10?'
Sake was stunned to see No. 10 suddenly coming at the edge of the area. Not only that, Sake saw that no. 10 raised his weapon against Ran and Ai who were hugging each other.
She instantly understood what he wanted to do.
Bang!
Before No. 10 could pull the trigger, someone had already shot him.
"Akai Shuichi," Vermouth called out to the man who appeared.
No. 10 clicked his tongue and looked at the two people on the ground unwillingly before rolling to the back and jumping into the water. It was obvious that he was there to help.
[Miss! Is that man…?]
[He's just a person who does whatever he wants. I'll deal with him later] Sake was calm as she looked at the two people in the distance and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet passed by Akai Shuichi's head, cutting some of his side hair. And at this moment, Vermouth had taken the chance to pick Conan up and entered the car.
Sake cleaned up her sniper rifle and shook her head.
The position that Calvados picked was blocked and she couldn't kill the other party and turned him into a ghost.
As she had thought, the game wouldn't allow her to mess around.
There were still rules that she had to follow.
She will contact Vermouth later after she has finished dealing with Conan. But before that, she had to calm Miyano Akemi first.
[Akemi, your sister is not a bird in a cage that needs to be protected for her entire life. She's also a strong woman, just like you] Kurokawa Saki said slowly.
And a witness protection plan might be a good idea for many people, but it was still something that forced them to live a completely different life, far away from their friends and family. Those whom she had faked death for… many of them were put in the secret prison and the rest were given witness protection plans.
But once Sake controlled almost all the lines, and made a place her territory, she let the Interpol release them from their witness protection plan if they wanted to. There were some places they couldn't come to, but it's better than living a completely different life. Some others didn't even have any witness protection plan and only went into hiding for a period of time.
When it was safe, they could return to their normal life.
But there were still some restrictions that they were not allowed to do.
One of them was naturally to announce their status to the whole world.
Thankfully, the early stage of Conan's story still has a lot of equipment backward, so this matter was not that big of a problem. But later on, there would be too many people to watch and Kurokawa Saki will have to finish her mission.
'Just a bit more… and I'll be done.'