...
Maybe it was because Reika Yotsui's villa was too quiet, or maybe because of the appearance of "Tanaka Shiro," but Ichieda Takashi had a really bad feeling gnawing at him.
He quietly reached behind his waist where he had a small knife hidden.
But before he could pull it out, the kid in front of him stepped onto the edge of the pool with a rolling pin, shooting forward like a blur.
With a solid "dong—" that sounded like tapping a watermelon, Ichieda's vision spun and he collapsed onto the ground in a heap.
The pool was already filled to the brim, and now water spilled over onto the ground.
Jiangxia Tongzhi, controlling Xiaobai's puppet, landed lightly with the rolling pin and splashed down into a puddle.
...
Ichieda Takashi had already killed two people according to his plan. By the law of conservation of metaphysics, all his built-up murderous aura had been used up.
Aside from the panic just now, he now had some new, faint murderous intent directed at Jiangxia.
It wasn't much, but hey—every little bit counts. Jiangxia dutifully knocked it loose, rolled it up, and pocketed it.
Then he looked down at Ichieda Takashi, who was lying flat on the ground. Impatient, he bonked him unconscious with a few more hits, then casually tossed the rolling pin aside.
This guy had no murderous aura left, and his "loot drop" wasn't very good either. As for the shikigami... once the police came and carted him off, it would naturally detach.
Ichieda had used quite a few props to bind and immobilize people again this time. Luckily, Jiangxia had sent Miyano Akemi to tail him earlier, so now he knew where all the physical evidence had been tossed. All he had to do was wait for the police to arrive, whip up some "deductions," and miraculously find the stuff.
The case had wrapped up a little earlier than expected. Jiangxia straightened out his thoughts, crouched down, and poked the collapsed Ichieda Takashi.
Seeing that the guy wouldn't wake up anytime soon, Jiangxia turned and scrambled over to the edge of the sink. He dangled himself innocently over the side, and then switched his consciousness back to his real body.
His main body was still hanging under the tree.
Jiangxia looked around, and soon picked up the sound of some vague shouting—someone was calling for him.
He followed the voice and ran into Ran Mouri and the others.
Both sides quickly exchanged updates on their search for the "murderer who escaped into the woods"—unsurprisingly, there was no result. After all, Ichieda had just made that up.
The four of them were discussing what to do next when they heard a series of rustling footsteps crunching over dead leaves, gradually getting closer.
Suzuki Sonoko jumped, then expertly hid behind Jiangxia, dragging Conan along with her.
Jiangxia looked toward the source of the footsteps, and after a moment, Granny Yone's head popped out from the woods.
The old lady looked relieved when she spotted them. "It's easy to get lost in this forest. Good thing you didn't run too far… Come back with me first."
In her eyes, these three high schoolers were still just kids—never mind Conan, an actual kid. She was extremely worried about a bunch of children running around the forest in the middle of the night.
Conan glanced at Granny Yone—and behind her—and suddenly realized something.
"Where's Shiro?!"
Conan, Ran, and Sonoko all shouted at once, faces draining of color.
In their minds, with Granny Yone gone, the only one left back at the villa was Shiro, still pretending to be asleep in the hall.
Ran and Sonoko immediately imagined the worst: what if the murderer had doubled back to the villa, found the poor kid alone, and killed him to cover up the crime?!
Conan thought the same thing—except with an extra twist:
If the murderer had returned and tried to kill Xiaobai, what if Xiaobai had turned around and absolutely flattened the guy into a meat patty instead?
...Even so, Conan thought grimly, murderers should be handed over to the law, not dealt with privately.
Different worries, but same conclusion:
—They had to get back to the villa, fast.
...
Meanwhile, Ichieda Takashi lay sprawled for a while before slowly coming to.
He staggered upright, clutching his throbbing forehead, and stared suspiciously at Xiaobai still hanging by the pool. He wasn't sure if he'd actually been beaten by a child just now, or if he'd been so nervous he slipped, cracked his head, and hallucinated the whole thing.
Ichieda watched the motionless Xiaobai warily. After hesitating a while, he finally mustered up the courage to reach out and touch him.
Just as his hand brushed the kid's back, the kitchen door was kicked open with a bang.
A desperate shout followed: "Shiroo!!"
Startled stiff, Ichieda didn't even have time to turn around before a massive force slammed into him from the side. He was sent flying, smacked into the fridge door, and slowly slid down it like a tragic cartoon character.
Tears in her eyes, Ran Mouri shoved the obstacle aside and scooped up the limp Xiaobai.
Jiangxia glanced at the puppet in her arms and quietly synced up with Xiaobai inside.
Thanks to the dark star he'd stolen from Kaito Kid earlier, even if his consciousness wasn't directly in the puppet, the ghost child acting as a "stand" could still move a little. Like, for instance, faking breathing by moving airflow in and out of his nose.
Ran, seeing that Xiaobai was still "breathing," finally relaxed.
She glanced at the pool where Xiaobai had just been lying, then at Ichieda Takashi now knocked out cold again. She said, "…Mr. Ichieda is the murderer?"
…I mean, what kind of normal person attacks an innocent, weak, pitiful Shiro?!
Conan silently noted the striped bruises blooming on Ichieda's forehead, then glanced at the nearby rolling pin—now cracked in two.
Somehow, he felt the situation might not be exactly the way Ran imagined.
...
Ichieda Takashi didn't wake up for a long time, but soon, the others returned to the villa.
When they heard that their old pal Ichieda had attacked Xiaobai, they were shocked. His methods were suspiciously similar to the way he took down his second victim earlier—only this time, instead of a full-size fountain, he'd downgraded to the kitchen sink.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 3/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*