"Ah, it's so nostalgic to be back at the office after so long."
The day after Hayashi Yoshiki returned from Osaka, Amuro Tōru showed up at the detective agency.
This handsome man with sun-kissed skin wore a bright, refreshing smile. You'd never guess that he'd just wrapped up a high-risk undercover mission.
"Good thing you came back today," Hayashi said, returning the smile.
"I've been out of town for a few days—just got back to Beika last night. And now my inbox is overflowing, and my phone's full of messages. It's giving me a headache."
"Please leave it to me," Amuro replied warmly. "But wait, didn't the boss also go out?"
"Yeah. Took a case in Gunma Prefecture. I brought you back a little souvenir."
Amuro accepted the gift happily. Then, Hayashi Yoshiki grabbed his keys and slipped out alone.
Amuro, now left to himself, calmly began tackling the backlog of work in the office. Compared to undercover infiltration, these mundane tasks were almost relaxing.
At this point, Amuro Tōru had no idea who Hayashi Yoshiki really was.
He hadn't been part of the internal chain of command during the Osaka operation, unlike Vermouth, who had full access to the mission's inner workings. All Amuro knew—from the cryptic audio instructions and his contact in the Red Team—was that someone new, and dangerous, had emerged within the Black Organization.
But lacking details, he didn't even know where to begin investigating.
For now, Amuro was more concerned with the aftermath of the Osaka operation.
After reviewing the evidence seized by the police, he found the company's inner workings increasingly alarming. The list of illegal activities was vast and highly organized.
Two high-ranking executives—whose names Amuro had personally forwarded—were captured during the investigation. But before they could be interrogated...
They were both shot in the head by snipers during transport.
Worse yet, one of the snipers took his own life when escape became impossible.
They're all just monsters hiding in the dark…
Amuro clenched his fist unconsciously. The more he uncovered, the deeper the darkness seemed to stretch.
Later that day, Hayashi Yoshiki arrived at the Mōri Detective Agency.
The souvenirs he'd had Asami purchase in Gunma needed to be handed out—after all, the more people believed he had been there, the less they'd associate him with the chaos in Osaka.
"Yunohana hot spring buns, huh?" said Mōri Kogorō, inspecting the label. "So you went to Ikaho Onsen? That's great. How was it?"
Hayashi smiled. "It was wonderful. Plenty of female tourists there."
"Really?" Mōri perked up immediately. "How was the quality? Did they have any mixed bathing?"
"There were plenty of young girls. As for mixed bathing… yeah, but I didn't go."
"Tch! Yoshiki, you're still young. You don't understand the true beauty of mixed bathing—"
Ran, holding a rolled-up newspaper, slammed the table with a bang.
"Don't drag Yoshiki-nii into your weird fantasies!"
"Cough…" The middle-aged man cleared his throat and turned away with mock seriousness.
He grabbed the newspaper from Ran, but upon seeing the front page, his expression turned grim."This news—"
"Is it about Osaka?" Hayashi asked with a calm smile.
"How do you know?" Kogorō asked suspiciously.
"I heard from Heiji."
Conan, who had appeared from who-knows-where, held up a similar newspaper with a serious look in his eyes.
The terrorist incident in Osaka Port couldn't be buried.
Conan had already received a late-night call from Hattori Heiji, who—through his police connections—had uncovered disturbing inside intel. Even without conclusive proof, Conan's instincts screamed that the incident involved Gin and his faction.
What caught his attention even more was something Heiji mentioned:
Among the two groups of armed terrorists, one side kept getting "saved" by a string of bizarre coincidences—accidents that allowed them to escape pursuit.
Hattori's authority didn't let him dig deeper, but Conan couldn't let it go.
There was something behind all those "accidents."
"Why the serious face? Try one." Hayashi peeled open a steamed bun and handed it to Conan.
"Oh—thanks, Yoshiki-nii." Conan blinked, caught off guard.
"This is delicious!" Ran exclaimed after taking a bite. Her eyes lit up. "Did you really bring these from the hot springs?"
"Of course," Hayashi nodded. "Bought a few extras to give out."
The buns—onsen manju—were soft pastries filled with sweet bean paste, not the typical floury type. Hayashi had genuinely enjoyed them.
"Thanks, Yoshiki-nii."
Ran smiled, touched. She quickly put down her snack and went to boil water for tea.
Meanwhile, Kogorō turned on the TV.
As breaking news about the Osaka incident came up, Conan couldn't help but stare at the screen, eyes narrowing as he absorbed every detail.
Tea brewed, Ran returned with cups.
"Thanks for the trouble."
"Ran," Hayashi said softly, "Is there something you wanted to ask me?"
"Well... actually it's Sonoko. Ever since she heard you came back, she's been going on and on about what we talked about last time."
"You mean the beach trip?"
Hayashi chuckled. "I remembered. Let's go in a couple of days, whenever it's convenient."
Ran clapped excitedly.
"But this time..." Hayashi paused "...can I bring the kid along?"
"You mean Ai-chan? Of course!" Ran smiled. "Sonoko won't mind at all."
Her radiant expression warmed the room.
Hayashi Yoshiki couldn't help but return the smile.