Chapter 34: The Soul of Shinichi Kudo (Requesting Monthly Tickets (v))

Chapter 34: The Wandering Soul of Shinichi Kudo (Requesting Monthly Tickets ●v`●)

Natsuka didn't actually have any strange hobbies like "beating people up."

He just enjoyed the sensation of tapping away at killing intent, much like fluffing cotton, until it became soft and airy.

Moreover, this time, there was an extra leg-clinging spirit attached to the director's leg. It was a "buy one, get one free" deal, which is why Natsuka had inadvertently let his hand go a bit too heavy.

...

Just now, while he was working in the dark to tap all the killing intent down, several frozen children had appeared beside him.

—At first, the Detective Boys had stayed upstairs and dared not move because of Natsuka's command to "stay put."

But the director's wailing was so tragic that Conan, listening with a conscience for a full minute, grew genuinely worried that someone might die and ran down the stairs.

The other three children instinctively followed.

...

When they reached the first floor and Conan shone his flashlight, the four of them saw the director's miserable state.

...They should have stopped him.

But the museum was so dark, the screams were so terrifying, and Natsuka was so...

In the end, no one dared to move except for Conan.

And when it came to "preventing a beating," Conan could only function as a glorified leg ornament.

...And so, the director ended up in this state.

...

However, while hitting people is bad, it did indeed increase efficiency in this case.

—When the police arrived, the director rushed toward them like he was seeing long-lost relatives, sobbing uncontrollably and spilling everything.

And just like that, Inspector Megure not only successfully located the body, but he also seized a stash of hidden drugs in the children's reading room.

...

Looking at the successfully solved drug trafficking and murder/body-hiding case, and then looking at Natsuka beside him, Inspector Megure felt a sense of relief, but was suddenly struck by a powerful sense of déjà vu.

He laughed heartily and said, "Brother Natsuka, are you really possessed by Kudo?"

It was meant to be a joke.

To his surprise, Natsuka glanced at him, gave a low hum, and nodded thoughtfully: "Indeed. Lately, I occasionally feel quite dazed. There is always a voice telling me to go check out a certain place, and once I go, a murder case appears..."

Conan, who had been innocently brought into the conversation, snapped his head around and stared at him in shock.

As the actual "Shinichi Kudo," Conan was certain he had never whispered any demonic prompts to Natsuka.

Hearing this, he couldn't help but wonder if Natsuka's depression hadn't just failed to improve, but had instead developed strange complications.

Conan: "..." Come to think of it, the way Natsuka beat up criminals was somewhat terrifying in itself—just now, while hitting the director, Natsuka had actually let out a soft chuckle. Conan had broken into a cold sweat at the time and immediately forgave his three classmates for refusing to help him stop him—to be honest, even as a high schooler, he felt like running away when facing the "righteous" Natsuka, let alone three elementary schoolers...

...

While Conan was recalling the scene with lingering fear.

Beside him, Inspector Megure's face was equally ashen, having been quite shaken.

—His comment about "possession by a wandering soul" was just a joke. He hadn't expected Natsuka to actually have a similar experience.

Just then, the air conditioner swiveled toward them, blowing a gust of cold air.

In Megure's mind, an image flashed vividly: a pale-faced Shinichi Kudo clinging to his shoulder, eerily blowing cold breath against his neck.

He instantly broke into a cold sweat and looked at Natsuka: "...Wh-what?!"

"Nothing, I was just joking. You didn't actually believe me, Inspector."

Natsuka dropped his serious expression and smiled at him. "The world is materialistic; ghosts and monsters don't exist. Besides, didn't I say before—I came here to return a book, not because I heard Kudo calling me."

Inspector Megure: "..."

He adjusted his hat as if nothing had happened and gave a dry laugh. "I know. I was just playing along with you, hahaha."

Normally, as a policeman, he wouldn't believe in such things.

But Natsuka's tone was just too serious. Combined with the eerie and strange environment...

Inspector Megure clutched his pounding heart and sighed.

This new younger brother, although more low-key, more humble, and a better fighter than Kudo, always felt like something was slightly off about him...

...

It was getting late, and the witnesses were a group of children.

Inspector Megure therefore sent people to escort the frightened children home so they could rest, telling them they could come to the station for statements later.

After seeing off the three children with blank stares and one child who looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Inspector Megure turned back to Natsuka.

He remembered that Natsuka enjoyed giving statements, so he planned to give him some overtime: "You..."

"I'll go with them." Natsuka had already stepped out. He walked to his motorcycle and picked up his helmet. "It just so happens that I live near one of the children, so we can go together."

In Natsuka's view, the Detective Boys each possessed an incredibly strong "incident-attracting" constitution.

Perhaps if he tagged along, he could reap a few more things...

Furthermore, the employee killed by the director this time might have been oppressed by his boss for too long, leaving behind a rather humble obsession—after Natsuka beat the director for a while, it had dropped quite readily.

Since there were currently no souls in the police station waiting for Natsuka to collect, he naturally had no obsession with giving a statement.

...

The children had classes to attend, so their schedules fluctuated.

When the day agreed upon with the police arrived.

Natsuka changed his clothes and headed out, taking a slight detour to the Mouri Detective Agency.

The three children were waiting downstairs from Conan's place.

Seeing Natsuka approaching, the sleepy children snapped to attention, holding their umbrellas and standing straight in the rain.

As Natsuka's gaze swept over them, he felt as if he were about to hear his familiar "Good morning, Boss!" at any second.

...

By the roadside, the Detective Boys stood at attention while stealing glances at Natsuka.

Though they were troublemakers, they were only in first grade; when they fought with classmates, it was at most a few punches or a kick before a teacher pulled them apart.

In other words... this was the first time they had seen a scene like Natsuka beating someone nearly to death.

Additionally, when leaving the library that night, Conan had felt his classmates were being overly nervous, so he had tried to comfort them uncertainly, saying that Natsuka only beat bad people.

The little rascals ran that sentence through their heads and quickly reached a conclusion.

—They absolutely could not let Natsuka perceive them as bad people.

They had to be well-behaved, polite, and harmless children, like flowers.

Thus, facing Natsuka as he pulled up beside them, the three of them greeted him in unison, loudly: "Good morning!"

Natsuka nodded. "Good morning."

He thought to himself with satisfaction that when the little rascals weren't being rascals, they didn't actually look very beatable.

The children's voices were so loud that the sound drifted upward. Soon, two heads poked out from the second floor of the Mouri Detective Agency.

(End of Chapter)