Fictions Mentioned:

Episode 19

OP Song:

Nishiwaki Yui-君がいるから...(Because you...)(FULL)(Kindaichi Case Files OP 3)

Insert Song: Start

Max Payne - Main Theme

DCMK Earth-Prime

Between the Lines...

One year ago, specifically 2017...

"Conan-kun, are you sure you're not going to come with us?"

It was one bright afternoon in Beika Ward which is apparent from the sunset shining in the east. There was Conan Edogawa, an elementary school detective from Teitan Elementary School, whose secret identity is Shinichi Kudo, a famous high school detective from Teitan High School, dressed in his usual orthodox wardrobe consisting of a blue blazer with a single button, and a pair of shorts, red trainers, and white socks. He was carrying his brown randoseru backpack on his back. He isn't carrying his brown coat with him at this time and left it among his other clothing at the Mouri Detective Agency, one of the current places that he is living in, although he does tend to go back and forth between living in this location and the mansion.

The only real reason he ever needed to stay in the Mouri Detective Agency is that he was currently the young age of elementary student of about six years old and that he needed a kind of guardian to keep an eye on him and even more so that this guardian is a competent detective in his own right. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem so to speak but his identity as Shinichi Kudo is at potential risk of being exposed to the public and by extension the Black Organization whose agents Gin and Vodka had done the job of turning him into his current and state and even more by extension his other enemies out there.

For most other people, there's another side of Shinichi Kudo that they wouldn't even be aware of. He is actually the famous international superhero Night Baron, the second one to take the name. Although, when becoming Conan Edogawa, he'd be known to the general public as the third Night Baron. The first Night Baron was Yusaku Kudo, his father, an accomplished detective and novelist.

And speaking of which, there was Conan Edogawa walking alongside three other children that he grew to care for as friends and made it his personal responsibility to keep them safe from harm's way. Some would say that they were his children or kids from a certain point of view. Ayumi Yoshida, Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya, and Genta Kojima. Together with Conan, they make the Detective Boys, a group of pre-adolescent detectives that solves the occasional crimes that they happen to stumble into at the time. They've already made a name for themselves at this time, known among the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Some of course, such as Inspector Juzo Megure were vehemently against having actual kids in the investigation, of course giving Conan more discreet options on how to solve the case with the multitude of gadgets and resources available to him.

It's a requirement for the Night Baron to always be open and prudent, always in constant learning and filling in the blanks of knowledge and wisdom with newly updated info while never forgetting the lessons of the past and the value of experiences, applying both the old and the new, and of course, keeping a firm eye for any significant details to the tea for the sake of not just himself but everyone around him, following the examples of Sherlock Holmes (to whom he was quite a fan himself) and other detectives from the literary world whose accounts have happened in a similar fashion on this specific Earth in the Multiverse, not just Sherlock Holmes himself, but also Kosuke Kindaichi (the grandfather of an old friend and fellow detective - Hajime Kindaichi), Father Brown, and many others. Yes, the ones that are considered fiction on other Earths are as real as they come on this specific Earth.

How though?

This is a simple and complicated question that can only be answered when deep diving into the intricate natures of history.

Back to now, the one who was currently asking Conan, Ayumi Yoshida, was a young girl between the age of six and seven. She wears a pink dress and pink hairband. She was seen with a sad expression on her face. The same could be said for Mitsuhiko and Genta who were sporting their own sad expressions followed by a sense of disappointment in accordance with their personalities.

The thing that they all knew regarding Conan Edogawa was that he was a very quiet and reserved young man for his age. Quite skilled in many different things, having knowledge and trivia that made him a walking encyclopedia, people such as them looked up to him. He was mysterious and down to earth, understanding to a fault, wise in a way that most children aren't. And when it comes to their relationship with him, he was more or less like that old brother figure, but Ayumi specifically has more of an innocent childhood crush on Conan, finding him many good and wonderful things about him.

But there's also one thing that the Detective Boys had grown quite used to. The fact that Conan Edogawa never seems to take a break and is almost always seen working on something 24/7/365. It was one of those things that they and other people try to deal with.

Conan, smiling sadly, simply said in an honest tone while touching Ayumi's arm. "I'm sorry, Ayumi-chan. I have other things that I need to do at the moment. Let me reassure you and the rest however that it's not detective work so don't think of trying to follow me since you'd probably be surprised to find things a bit too boring when you do end up following me."

"I see..." Ayumi made a sad expression, her head lowered.

"Tell you all what, since Saturday is coming up, let's have some fun in the park. I'll even bring Kaito-oniichan along so that we can turn the tables on him once again in one good round of hide and seek," Conan spoke with a smile.

"Really!" Ayumi became excited. Both Mitsuhiko and Genta were pleased as well.

"Yep. Now, I better get going, see you guys later," Conan said, raising his right hand to wave at them.

"Hmm. Bye-bye, Conan-kun," Ayumi smiled as she and the rest were waving their hands.

And thus, he left them at the entrance of Ayumi's apartment building and begins to walk a few steps to the next road down the lane.

A few walks later, Conan Edogawa, who once had a genuine smile on his face, becomes much more serious and grim.

Why?

Because for the past few minutes or so since leaving the children to a much more preferred safer place, he notices that he was being watched and followed for quite some time. It was a kind of natural sixth sense that he had managed to hone over the years, barring of course a few exceptions due to more experienced stealth fighters like the Black Organization member Gin being an example who knocked him out with a retractable walking stick. It hurt like hell if Conan were being honest.

He was now walking through a wide-open alleyway. It was quite clear and not the usual cliché of what it would usually look like as depicted in fiction. Everything was clean and organized. Trash bags were found on the wayside, placed near the dumpster. No one was there except for him. Or rather, there was someone else that was here.

Conan stopped. He breathes in and out for a moment. Both of his hands are currently in his own pockets.

"You can come out now. I know that you're there," he said.

"Hmmm."

The sound of giggling laughter was heard. The tone, he thought, belonged to that of a young female. By the sound of her laughter, there was a sense of danger that was making his mind sharp and on the watch because he is more than familiar with this kind of laughter. It was the laughter of one belonging to a person with hedonistic and vile tendencies.

His eyes narrowed as he made a side glance. He spotted a young woman with a flirtatious standing tall. Her appearance was doll-like and innocent. A far cry from her true personality. She knows that her appearance is such and such which makes it conform to her advantage and get what she wants in the end. Unusually, she was wearing her normal white flower-like dress with flowers, ribbons ornament, and accessories on it, instead of her usual dark, revealing outfit with blue and pink colors that might mistake her for some type of stripper.

"Quite sharp of you to notice me, chiisana tantei-san. No...Kudo Shinichi...No, no...Night Baron."

Every single time she said something, her tone seem to increase with flirtatious glee. She was savoring this particular moment, wanting to prolong such moments when she comes face to face with her elusive rival of the dark night whose strong will made him quite attractive to her. Yes, he looks like a child in the eyes of the world, but to people like her who knew what lies behind the veil was found the rarest treasure. She would not hand it over so very easily. For this type of treasure is a rarity, it bespoken of a man of many faces. The question now would be how to peal the slices of the identity of this person like an orange. Oh, she just loves the delicacy of this challenge as it invigorates her.

"Mizuki Magari," Conan simply said in a polite, cool tone with no obvious and apparent meaning, not surprised oddly enough at the revelation of his identity but seemingly cool and calm; collected even. This tone undoubtedly pleased Magari who seem to expect this type of response. "Why are you following me, if I may ask?" he asked.

Magari smiled. She made a few steps before stopping. "Heeh. Don't be like that, Night Baron. Can't I simply watch over you like one of your fangirls? I mean, that alone would make me a bit jealous of those bitches who don't really know who you are from underneath those glasses."

"Are you saying that you are simply just visiting and checking up on me then without any further intentions on your part?" Conan asked.

"Of course," Magari smiled. Both of her hands were on her back as her face lowered close to Conan's. Both of their eyes were staring at one another. Conan's was serious while Magari was pleasurable and chaotic. "Now, it was quite hard to actually find out about who you are for the past few months since you've just gone up and disappeared off the face of the Earth. I had to do a little bit of digging and asking around here and there, and by then, it lead me to Tropical Land and the disappearance of one Kudo Shinichi because he was snooping around where he shouldn't and was given a drug that makes sure that the bodies disappear without a trace with no one to examine them, not even the police. And then, sometime later, immediately emerging from the darkness was Night Baron Kid who had managed to save a company president's brat, the very first official case that Night Baron Kid had handled that is reported in the public limelight. I'd managed to at least put together a complicated guess that was just hidden simply in plain sight. That you, the two Night Barons, that famous high school detective, and you as you are now are all one and the same person. I've been thinking about it all over and over again. I always thought that it made sense that Night Baron had some kind of connection with the Kudos despite some arguments to the contrary since Night Baron is supposed to be a fictional character in Kudo Yusaku's novels. The best way to truly have a secret identity is to hide in plain sight for all to see. You're like a magician with magic tricks, making the audience think that what they see is true but at the same time, it wasn't true and it was all a magic trick, an illusion. Quite the performance from you and your father that made even the old geezers and old ladies in my organization scratch their heads. Really, I applaud you and your father for that one. But like any magician, there are tricks, and the attentive watcher and critical thinker would most surely notice the trick sooner than later."

The type of tone that Magari was using, despite the flirtatious nature, was more of genuine respect from foe to foe, acknowledging the capabilities and prowess of another.

"If you are coming here and explaining all of this to me, I would guess that you haven't reported your findings to your organization. Because you wouldn't brag about this to my face and simply turned straight to them. You're too smart for that," Conan said, still cool and collected.

Magari smirked, raising his right hand to touch Conan's face in a surprisingly gentle and delicate manner. "Why would I tell them? That would ruin our private fun time, don't you think?"

Conan made no comment and simply had a blank and serious expression.

"Welp, it's time for me to leave," Magari stood up straight and walked past Conan. "I simply wanted to tell you what I've found out, that is all. I won't tell anybody else about your secret identity as a personal favor. You know my name already and now I know yours. That makes our next battle quite interesting, don't you think? I would be looking forward to playing with you next time, my dear Heisei Sherlock Holmes," she said the last part with a smile on her face that was glancing back at Conan, promising pain and pleasure. She blows a kiss toward Conan, blinks one of her eyes in a flirtatious manner, and made a lustful face. Then she jumped high, as if like a superhuman, to the rooftops, leaving Conan to narrow his eyes at the retreating figure that was no more and made him reflect on what had just happened.

Conan never spoke a word. He simply left the alleyway and walk away, intending to head to the Mouri Detective Agency.

The Mouris were waiting for him after all.

Ran Mouri, his childhood best friend, was waiting for him.

Knowing her, she'd probably be worried for him, especially when the sun is now setting and the night is now upon them. For the Night Baron has no rest when it comes to the night since the people still need him.

It is written: "No rest for the wicked."

Insert Song: End

ED Song:

Detective Conan Ending 06 - Koori No Ue Ni Tatsu You Ni (Miho Komatsu)

Main Companion Protagonists:

Shinichi Kudo/Conan Edogawa/Night Baron - VA: Minami Takayama

New Characters:

Ayumi Yoshida - VA: Yukiko Iwai

Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya - VA: Ikue Otani

Genta Kojima - VA: Wataru Takagi