BONUS CHAPTER #7
The fear engraved deep in his DNA made Moriya Teiji shudder uncontrollably. Before his brain even had time to catch up, his body had already betrayed him—he spun on his heel and hid firmly behind Officer Takagi like a traumatized victim.
Takagi looked sympathetically at the suspect, whose face was nearly rearranged, and calmly pulled out the handcuffs.
Moriya Teiji, now as docile as a Buddhist on sedatives, raised his hands willingly and even muttered a few words of compassion as he was escorted away.
…
Inspector Megure was still scrambling to deal with the fallout from the last bomb scare—although Conan had found the bomb hidden in a cat-print bag just in time, there wasn't enough left on the timer to defuse it safely. So he made the executive decision to lob it into an open area and let it go boom.
It worked. It also attracted a massive crowd.
Naturally, the police had to split their forces to handle both bomb aftermath and bystander management.
Officer Sato, however, made a breakthrough and quickly reported it to Inspector Megure: the suspect had been caught, but there were still several bombs out there that needed diffusing.
After hanging up, she left a few officers at the scene and took the suspect—and Jiangxia Tongzhi—to the station.
Right before getting into the car, Sato paused and glanced at the blazing sun overhead, then looked suspiciously at Jiangxia.
"I remember… you said you're allergic to sunlight?"
"…Seasonal," Jiangxia replied flatly, not even blinking as he recalled the excuse he'd given during an earlier failed sneaking attempt.
"…Oh." Sato gave him a look.
…
What Moriya Teiji had marked on the blueprint really were all the bombs he'd planted—no tricks.
Of course, he hadn't started out so honest. At first, he tried scribbling fake spots to throw them off.
But Jiangxia had spoilers. He already knew some of the bomb locations ahead of time.
So Teiji's grand plan to confuse everyone fell apart immediately. He drew a fake location, and Jiangxia saw through it in a blink…
After a few failed attempts—and a few escalating beatings—Moriya Teiji gave up completely. He had a sneaking suspicion that if he tried to pull anything again, he wouldn't be leaving the station alive.
As he sat trembling in fear, Moriya Teiji finally understood why the media kept calling Jiangxia a "genius detective." He no longer thought it was a PR gimmick—no, it had to be the truth!
Otherwise, how could Jiangxia know the exact location of every bomb he planted?
These high school detectives… terrifying.
…
Thanks to Moriya Teiji's bomb map, the defusing team was successful.
Jiangxia tallied up the time, effort, and newly-acquired ghostly murderous aura he'd collected, and decided it was all worth it. Inner peace -> restored.
Ever since discovering the magical aura-harvesting effect of Dr. Agasa's home, Jiangxia had been visiting much more frequently. Sometimes he even ate meals there, just so he wouldn't have to wash his lunchbox.
He wasn't the only one benefiting. The food at the doctor's house had become increasingly luxurious, and Conan, perhaps lured by the promise of meat, had also been showing up more and more.
Eventually, Jiangxia realized that his "leeching with purpose" strategy was paying off.
One afternoon, after finishing lunch and fiddling with one of Dr. Agasa's half-finished inventions, Conan got a phone call.
It was from Hattori Heiji.
Heiji didn't usually call Conan out of the blue, but the two were kindred spirits—fellow detectives drawn together by a mysterious external force (read: recurring murder cases), forming a brotherly bond over time.
This time, however, the reason was… unusual.
Hattori had taken a nap and had a dream. In the dream, Kudo Shinichi had died.
That was horrifying enough on its own. But worse, after Kudo's death, Jiangxia couldn't find him either—and ended up transferring to Osaka. There, he started solving crimes at Heiji's side. Every. Single. Day.
Hattori woke up drenched in sweat.
Without thinking, he grabbed his phone and frantically dialed Kudo Shinichi.
Kudo, don't die!!
He completed the entire dial in a semi-conscious panic. By the time Conan picked up, Heiji had become slightly more awake.
Still, he was too embarrassed to blurt out "I dreamed you died," so he bluffed: "I'm inviting you to Osaka."
Conan blinked. "You're a high schooler inviting an elementary school kid like me to hang out? Aren't you worried people will think you're a kidnapper? You might as well take a detour and invite Jiangxia."
He remembered Jiangxia seemed… very interested in Hattori.
On the other end of the line, Hattori Heiji exploded: "I'm not!!"
Conan: "…"
He silently pulled the phone away from his ear, rubbed it, and muttered, "You're inviting us to hang out, not solve a case. Why are you dodging Jiangxia?"
Hattori's voice was bitter. "It's not like I meant for the last two times to involve murders. The cases just kept happening! Serial ones! Back-to-back!"
He'd always thought his murder magnet aura was strong.
Then he met Jiangxia.
Unlike Heiji, who got an occasional break, Jiangxia seemed to trip over dead bodies everywhere. Like, daily.
Conan thought about this. "…Yeah, fair."
Hattori sighed. He realized he had, at some point, accepted Jiangxia's event magnetism as a law of nature. Like the sun rising in the east. You just get used to it.
They both fell silent on either end of the call. United by the quiet, shared dread of being near Jiangxia too long.
Eventually, Heiji said, "Anyway, since you're staying at Mouri Kogoro's place, I'll invite him. He's a detective, too, right? We can pretend we have shared interests. Plus, that uncle has more hobbies than sense, so it shouldn't be hard. You can tag along."
Conan noted Heiji's strangely intense obsession with getting Kudo Shinichi to Osaka.
He thought about it. Heiji seemed a bit off today—maybe he'd run into a tough case?
A tough case…
…without Jiangxia.
Heiji might actually need his help.
Excitement bloomed in Conan's heart.
He had to go.
…
When the call came in, Jiangxia had his loyal ghost shikigami, Xiaobai, perched dutifully on his shoulder.
He listened silently, pretending to be totally unaware of the conversation's contents, and wisely refrained from inviting himself along.
If he pushed too hard, Heiji might think Conan tipped him off. Worse, Conan might stop inviting him in the future.
That wouldn't do.
But.
That didn't mean Jiangxia was giving up on ghost hunting in Osaka.
Osaka was a tourist city. Plenty of famous attractions. It just so happened he was planning a coincidental sightseeing trip at the same time. If he happened to run into Heiji and Conan's group while there…
Totally not suspicious, completely natural.
*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*