Given that crashing into a mysterious figure in the middle of the night might completely wreck the protagonists' worldview, Jiangxia Tongzhi considerately switched out his usual "touch porcelain"* disguise for a Miyano Akemi puppet.
He eyed the oncoming car, adjusted the puppet's weight, picked a moment when the vehicle wasn't moving too fast, and dashed out onto the road with precision and grace.
Inside the car, Dr. Agasa was deeply engrossed in Haibara Ai's latest science lecture. At that moment, Conan thoughtfully muttered, "I feel like I've heard the name 'Hirota Masami' before."
Dr. Agasa glanced at him and replied, "Huh?" with the exact timing of a disaster-inviting talent.
When he turned his head back—boom—a figure suddenly appeared in front of the car.
Panicked, Dr. Agasa slammed the brakes, but the person was too close. The car jolted hard, and the body flew into the thick weeds by the riverside—the road, unfortunately, ran right next to the water.
The tires screeched. The three passengers sat in stunned silence, staring at the now dented hood of the car.
Haibara Ai was the first to snap out of it. Her face drained of color. She flung the door open and ran to the edge of the riverbank, peering through the tall weeds for the figure they'd just struck.
Conan followed quickly. He switched on his flashlight, scanning the grass while also glancing at Haibara Ai beside him. Something about her reaction seemed off.
Yes, it was natural to be horrified after hitting someone with a car. But as a former member of the Organization—even if she was just a researcher—Haibara's panic seemed a bit too intense.
"You know the person we hit?" Conan asked, guessing.
Haibara didn't respond. Conan didn't know her either. But recognition still struck him: long black dress, wide-brimmed hat, a tattoo under the right eye, eerily calm even in the beam of the car's headlights…
It was Anonymous.
Theoretically, Conan should be worried after running someone over.
But deep in his heart, he didn't buy that Anonymous would die from something as basic as a car hit. This was the same woman who'd survived jumping off a Shinkansen with a bomb strapped to her and falling from a hundred-meter spire. Getting tapped by a car? Please. If she got to a hospital in time, it'd be fine. Probably.
Haibara didn't confirm anything, but she too recognized Anonymous. After all, this person had thrown Gin's silencing plans into chaos, becoming pretty infamous within the Organization.
From the first moment Haibara saw her photo, she'd had a weird feeling, like she was looking at someone familiar. And now, in the flash of the headlights, she finally understood why—Anonymous, from that angle, looked eerily like her sister.
Dr. Agasa finally crawled out of the car, face pale. "I-I-I-I shouldn't have looked away just now…" He fumbled for his phone, dialed the ambulance, then quickly pressed 110. In a defeated tone, he said, "Hello? Police? I... I'd like to turn myself in…"
Conan felt a pang of guilt. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything while you were driving—it distracted you."
Dr. Agasa shook his head and hung up after giving the address. He turned to the kids with a glassy stare, patted them on the shoulders, and whispered like a martyr,
"I can't take care of you anymore. You'll have to find a good home… Jiangxia's place is nice. It's spacious. You're good kids. He'll be happy to raise you. I think he really likes you…"
Haibara Ai: "…"
The Doctor's dramatic rambling snapped her out of it.
Miyano Akemi was dead. Sure, Haibara sometimes felt like her sister was nearby—she'd even had moments where it felt like she was being hugged—but Akemi couldn't be part of that Anonymous outfit.
The person they hit wasn't her sister. That much was clear.
Haibara took a deep breath and pulled the devastated Doctor up from the ground. "Let's find her first. The damage to the car's hood isn't too bad, and we weren't going that fast. She might still be alive. If we act quickly, we might save her."
Dr. Agasa wiped a tragic tear and nodded. "Right…"
The three of them turned on their flashlights and began sweeping the grassy riverbank.
…
Meanwhile, over a thousand meters down the river:
Jiangxia, having used the Miyano Akemi puppet to take the hit, pulled it back and returned to his main body.
Up above, Gin had already gotten all the info he needed. He stood up, glanced down the embankment, and casually tossed Akira over the edge.
This part of the riverbank was higher than where Dr. Agasa's group was. Akira hit the stones hard—first his head, then his neck.
Jiangxia watched as a new shikigami rose from Akira's corpse—spirit paper forming from death.
The shikigami twitched, caught a scent, and floated vengefully toward Gin.
But after drifting just a few centimeters... it stopped.
After a beat, it turned back without a sound and hugged its corpse like a traumatized plushie.
Back when Gin was questioning Akira, Vodka had already located the Organization's disk. Once they were done, he wiped the area for traces and tossed the remaining disks and the bag next to Bai's body.
Seeing Jiangxia wearing gloves earlier, Vodka had also put on gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints—making the whole scene look like a botched robbery attempt.
Jiangxia looked down at the body. Akira had left behind two shikigami now—one his own, and one from Professor Hirota, whose head he'd just shot.
The Tengu flapped off Jiangxia's shoulder and scooped up Hirota's shikigami with ease.
It then tried tugging on Akira's… but that one clung hard. His soul was weak, but his obsession ran deep. No luck.
Regretfully, Tengu flapped back to Jiangxia with just Hirota's shikigami.
Jiangxia frowned, disappointed. But thinking it through—if Gin hadn't been around, he'd have just sent Akira to the cops and snagged Hirota's shikigami anyway. So in the end, he still got one. Plus, this version came with a bit of Gin's lingering murder vibes.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 20/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:1/10*