If there was one thing Kudo really had a knack for, Kogoro thought, it was pulling the strings on his own accords.

Adjusting his loosened necktie, he continued ambling along the road in a suburban area in the company of his daughter. Not a cloud was to be seen in the sky and the sunlight was comfortably warm for a winter day. A breeze coming from the sea loudly rustled what seemed to be election posters attached to the electric poles and walls as he walked, distorting the flawless impression of the small town. In comparison to Tokyo, the streets looked abandoned with only a handful of people sauntering about. He always wanted to visit a place with such peace and tranquillity once in a while to calm his constantly overworked nervous system, though without potential serial killers if possible.

It had been his case to begin with. He was the one to receive a warning letter from the culprit, or rather to-be culprit, not that brat. While he was admittedly not the brightest mind around, he was not a complete moron either. Kudo had too good of a timing. Not that he was complaining about the charity, as cases generally had a tendency to solve themselves in his proximity, but his scheme to snatch the cases from under his nose was getting on his nerves.

Juggling between schoolwork, investigating the future-prediction cases, co-running his private detective business and dealing with his own cases on the top was beyond his level of understanding anyways. As weeks passed with no decrease of interest in his job, he started to doubt that the young detective even looked up from case files save from the occasions he had meticulously reserved for dancing attendance on his daughter.

"Geez, dad. This is how you chase criminals?"

Yes, his influence was already showing.

Newfound his deductions had a slightly unfathered feel to them, even though if he took apart and inspected the small parts of the reasoning, some minuscule details always showed up as profound grounding. He conveniently drew the right conclusions from the facts at hand all the time, never once running into a dead end, which was scary if he compared it to his own detective experience. It had been similar this time too, his elaborate hunch had proved to be more than plausible. It was uncomfortable to admit, but maybe him messing with adults' work was the reason they could see through a major case, as he would have likely put it down as a prank had he not butted in.

And he turned out to be awfully good at managing this twisted form of detective work.

Brushing off the fact that the phone lines were indeed cut, he even suggested becoming proactive in the case. According to the receptionist, the majority of the locals would attend some sort of memorial held in honour of the previous mayor in the community centre. Deducting that there was a good chance their intended person would be amongst the present, the plan included the two of them looking around at the event while he was searching for something that would, quote, dissuade the culprit from committing his crimes should they find the right person in time. Not that he bothered to tell them exactly what that certain something was though.

Neither where the community centre was.

"Okay, Kenta-kun? Make sure you're nice and warm before you go to sleep."

"Yup. Bye-bye, Narumi-sensei!"

An elementary schooler ran past him, waving goodbye to a young woman clad in a nurse's cloak. Her appearance was elegantly simple, even if some ominously dark clothes flashed under the white exterior. Her hair noticeably used to being kept in a single ponytail was telling tales of her commitment as a healthcare professional. Having the same flawless first impression as the island in general, he suddenly had the urge to strike up a conversation with her.

His daughter, however, saw a more practical side of her presence.

"Um, excuse me, where is the community centre?"

"Right around the corner after this one. Are you two from the mainland?"

His daughter blinked at the unrelated question.

"Yes, from Tokyo."

"I knew! I have a house in Tokyo too!" Oh, that was nice for someone living in this remote island. While getting an employment at a metropolis had advantages, he could understand why she decided to work in such a peaceful environment. Her next words sounded fond as she spread her arms wide, almost as if to take in the beauty of nature. "But this place is so much nicer than that dusty city. Nice, clean air and wonderfully quiet—"

"If you want to protect the island's fishing grounds, vote for Shimizu Masato as you mayor!"

Mourning his crushed eardrums, he turned a head towards the van spouting noise pollution.

"The mayoral election is coming up soon. We have to bear with this until then." The crestfallen expression on her face soon turned into a thoughtful one. "There're three candidates: the fishermen's representative, Shimizu Masato-san who just passed by, the current mayor whose reputation has been slipping lately, Kuroiwa Tatsuji-san, and the richest person on the island, Kawashima Hideo-san. According to what my patients say, Kawashima-san looks like to be the winner—"

Whoa, that was a lot of familiar names.

"I take those people will attend the memorial too?"

"That's right. Everyone holding an important position here has an unwritten obligation to do so. I'm surprised you want to meet them though, usually mainlanders have little interest in local politics." Turning around, she spared a glance back. "I was about to get ready, we can go together if you wish so."

"With pleasure, miss nurse—"

"Asai Narumi, a doctor. I have a doctor's license."

As she whipped out the card validating her point, he realised that he treaded on a sensitive topic. It was indeed there, her medical license. Neatly laminated and attached through a strip to her cloak so that she could show it in the face of those who doubted her qualification, it looked valid enough to make him muster up an apology. A name was scribbled on the front with kanjis without clarified pronunciation, reading her name. Well, either that or—

He had found Asou Seiji.

"Hey, aniki, do you really think there is a rat in the organisation?"

At this point, Gin actually hoped there was. While his plan was nothing sort of genius, which was saying something as he was not the type to actively praise himself over the simplest of things, the inconveniences that had turned up along the way started to become a real nuisance.

It should have been nothing extravagant, just a mission at a remote island with his own addition to spice up the story. He was not blind to organisation politics, he knew that many agents were moving in on his position, so after his deal was busted at the ferris wheel and he was hospitalized for a while, he had to put something on the table to prove his worth and reassure the boss of his reliability. Something along the lines of taking care of the very reason of his failure.

The only problem was, there had been so such thing.

Everything had been handled privately, using the organisation's common methods, and the other half had been educated enough in the underworld to have heard of them and their capabilities. He had seen the guy at the site, trembling with fear at the mere idea of meeting them face to face. Not to mention that he had not been the example of a lawful citizen either, being involved in gun smuggling himself. With that account, he would have rather paid up to them than turn to the police.

He had tracked back his actions before the deal itself, in search of an occasion where something strange had happened, where something had gone wrong. His mind had arrived to the roller coaster, where a woman had picked the worst time to act on her revenge. It had been risky to pull off the deal for starters, the police had been swarming around because of that case. That was what he had thought until a fragment of memory had entered his mind, and refused to leave. A pair of turquoise eyes meeting his for a moment, carrying a gaze so unnervingly similar to his archenemy's that it had made him freeze up for a millisecond.

Those eyes did not belong to a seventeen-year-old's face, detective or not.

Kudo Shinichi, then.

There had been a surprisingly huge lore about him and his detective activity. A young genius, from the looks of it, solving a great variety of cases, though nothing actually interesting in their books. His mere adaptability would have made him an intriguing addition to the organisation had he not been so committed to the side of the law. However, regardless the amount of newspapers and forums he had scoured through, nothing had been able to explain his unique experience.

While he had been confined to the bed by his numerous injuries, a new character had arisen from the shadows, stirring the society as a whole with even the crumbs and bits of his words. He had become the seer, the prophet keeping vigil over the country by predicting crimes before those could happen.

And this mysterious individual had openly taken responsibility of the deal bust that night.

Kudo Shinichi and this mysterious prophet.

Kudo Shinichi was the prophet.

However, he had long left behind the path of faith. There was foul work behind the supernatural façade, and considering that he had gotten a hand on highly classified organisation information, it was safe to say that someone was lending him a helping hand from the inside. Unfortunately, though, too many people popped up as suspects in his head to separately interrogate each of them. No, making the kid to confess was much easier and remunerative.

Even heroes had weak points. Namely, that they were heroes.

Cutting the phone lines in the island and announcing his next targets had been just the setup. He only had to silently progress with his work and wait for the kid to intervene. Once his informant gave him the wire, which would definitely happen, as it would not make any sense if they were selective about the information, he would undoubtedly try to save as many lives as possible, even if that meant leaving the safe other end of the line.

He only had to take care not to make his scheme too obvious.

Like his partner addressing him as aniki while wearing the face of the secretary dude.

"I told not to slip up. Anyone can listen in."

Judging from the interesting documents in his apartment, the secretary dude would have ended up on their hit list someday even without witnessing them packing out the tools for the emergency plan. He had chosen the wrong group of drug dealers to work with, consisting of the people he had come to kill. People should have learnt by then that stealing from the organisation would not make them rich, it would grant them a bullet in the head. With a meddler less and a handful of information more, they could start to plan their disguises. His partner had chosen the secretary, hence their similarity in built.

He despised disguises. It was necessary though, since there was a chance the kid knew their appearances. At least the other dude who had entered the house under the excuse of hearing strange sounds had already looked as if he had been wearing a disguise. He was actually bad though.

He had a fiancée. And his name was Shuuichi.

But what his partner wanted to say was probably more important than that.

"I know, but we've got a situation. Some detective from Tokyo is here."

Or not. "Idiot. That's the kid."

"No, the name's Mouri Kogoro. He came with the kid though."

If his calculations were correct, everyone was in place. Shinichi ditched his two companions without telling the way to the community centre so that they would ask the nice doctor for directions. As the old man would inevitably mistake him for a nurse, the alternative reading of the kanjis on his doctor's license that he would definitely show in their faces should be enough to tip them off about his real identity. Considering that it took approximately forty minutes to walk from the town hall to the community centre, he could manage taking a detour to the police box before catching up to them and handle the case without drawing any unwanted attention.

At least, that was the plan.

With the organisation around, he felt hesitant about leaving those two alone. However, pulling this off by himself without any communication device was impossible, meaning that he needed help if he wanted to prevent the case. While he decided to become the proactive regarding the case at hand, he stayed reactive regarding the organisation. Not that he did not want to take them head-on, but he knew doing so in the current circumstances might end up with extra corpses.

Musing on when they would make their move was not getting him anywhere though.

"Hmm, that's odd. I could have sworn it was around here."

And neither did waiting for the officer to rake up that stupid key.

"Maybe it slipped between the manila folders."

"Why would it have—oh, the keys! You know how to find things, young man!"

"Your welcome and all, now if you would—"

Muttering something along the lines of rushing an old man, the officer turned the newfound key in the lock on a bulky safe, the only thing left behind from the house that had been burnt to the ground twelve years ago. He knew what laid inside it, a couple of music sheets telling the final message of one pianist in code, which would have saved four lives if had been recovered earlier in the previous timeline, the victims and the culprit included. His plan this time around was exactly that.

It was getting late. He had to hurry up if he wanted to make it in time.

"I'm surprised you knew about this safe. May I ask what do you need those sheets for?"

"I'll tell you on the way. We need to get to the community centre."

Restlessly sitting in the corridor of the community centre, Kogoro honestly felt like smacking himself from forty minutes before for mistaking this cursed place for a peaceful island. And sitting mere inches from someone who was going to murder people in the near future was just the icing on the cake.

During their trip to the community centre, they had encountered one of those mayoral candidates, the same one whose campaign slogan had almost deafened him previously. The person had turned out to be decent though, if nothing else, those fishermen gathered in front of the community centre protesting against the current mayor had actually listened to him and had let them reach the entrance without much of a trouble. When he believed that they were finally in place, that mayor and his companions had showed up. Never once in his carrier as a private detective, outcounting a certain superintendent, had he seen as grim people as those.

Not that a couple of scary faces deterred him though.

Apparently, they had seemed to think that he was there to investigate them, their reaction to which had been a no small red flag. As much as he wanted to dig up the details behind their suspicious behaviour, his current priority was keeping the person next to him from committing anything unforgivable. In the moment he discovered his identity upon laying an eye on his doctor's license, he had decided on the simple-but-effective follow-the-person-everywhere strategy.

Ah, the irony. He wished the suspect would at least stand up once in a while.

While constantly feeling the need to shift in his position, he watched his daughter walking from wall to wall across the corridor. He did not know whether she shared his restlessness or she was simply bored out of her mind. He did not know why they had to come to the community centre so early in the first place, especially since the memorial would only start at dusk. While there were people who seemed to use this occasion to earn an afternoon's worth of chat, nobody had even tried to approach them ever since they arrived apart from the candidate they had come with. Asou could read that damned book at his house too, it had a nicer scenery than these bleak walls.

He looked up when the sound of his daughter walking ceased.

"I need to go to the toilet, can you wait for me here?"

He confirmed that he was indeed capable of doing that with a nod while inwardly cursing himself for not thinking of that excuse sooner as an opportunity walk further than a couple of steps. One person was enough to watch over the suspect, and there were two of them for the job.

What his daughter assumed to be the continuation of the corridor turned out to be a spacy room with a single piano in the corner. The composition jogged his memory as he followed her with curiosity. Asou seemed to budge upon their interest in that particular premise but continued reading his book nevertheless. Keeping half an eye on the suspect, he walked inside. Everything looked abandoned and devoid of life, perhaps caused by the arrangement screaming emptiness.

It clicked then. It was likely that piano.

And the room was the scene of the murder from two years ago.

As his fingers slid on the keyboard lid, they drew lines in the dust accumulated on the surface. It seemed like nobody had cleaned it for years, or dared to touch it for that matter. Heaving off the keyboard lid, he inspected the keys on which a dead body had been laying before. No wonder people avoided this piano to such extent. As he was getting ready to press some of the keys, he heard someone stepping besides him.

"This piano belonged to a person deceased in a fire twelve years ago. People say that unfortunate incidents occur to those who touch it. I give little credit to superstitions, however, many of the locals will freak if you try to play on this."

"A—Narumi-sensei?!"

Okay, so keeping half an eye on him was not enough.

"Wait, my daughter is—?"

"I told her the way to the restroom."

After letting loose a sigh that nothing was wrong yet, he took notice of the way Asou was looking at the piano. Even if he had not known his identity by that time, he would definitely suspect the doctor resting his eyes on the varnished surface of the musical instrument with vibrant sorrow shining through his lies. It was perhaps the only memento his father had left behind, no wonder he was remembering some dear details about the pianist as he watched him with conviction.

And that chilled him in the inside.

As if on a cue, some clouds crept in front of the sun outside, making everything in the room become a shade darker. In the different lighting conditions, some strange white powder caught his attention under the piano. He squatted down to examine it, not liking the idea that crossed his mind.

"Narumi-sensei, was this piano taken to overseas concerts?"

The white powder between his fingers did not look like sand, and the piano itself looked big enough to be used for that particular purpose. If his theory was right, then their original idea gained even more ground. It explained the motive behind that murder twelve years ago, as well as why the current elite was terrified at the idea of a detective walking on their property. If proved on them, this alone was enough to throw them and possibly some of their associates in jail for a good while. There was no need to kill for justice to be delivered. Asou did not have to do this, not even for his father's sake. He looked at him, eyes shadowed over.

"Yes, since its owner was a famous pianist. Why would you assume that though?"

If Kudo stole his cases, he was going to steal his credits.

"As you know, I work as a private detective. I was hired by someone in this island called Asou Keiji. However, the letter that person sent me was rather ambiguous to put it lightly. I did a fair bit of investigation into the name and found that the only person on this island called that has been dead for twelve years, assumedly committed suicide after murdering his family." He stylishly walked past Asou with one hand in his pocket. "That, however, raises the question: who sent me a letter using the name of a dead person? Who would want me to investigate this person if not the only remaining member of his family. Isn't that right, Narumi-sensei,"

When he turned to face him, he was unnervingly calm.

"No, Asou Seiji."

"Y—You said Asou?!"

Both snapped back at the cry from the door. It was one of those before, presumably belonging to the group of evildoers behind the scenes. Glancing between the to-be killer dressed in an elegant funeral attire with the expression to match and the to-be victim scared for his life, the weight of the situation dawned on him.

As the loud scurrying on the corridor reached the door, the case neared its climax. Everyone was there, including the current mayor and his group actually involved in the case and the bystanders who came to see the commotion. Every eye was on the three of them while those who arrived later were asking the ones standing in front of them about what had happened. It sent the entire community centre into a frenzy and the upcoming memorial into oblivion.

"Kawashima, what was that scream—oh my, what do we have here?"

"Is that Narumi-sensei?"

"And the detective from Tokyo?"

All the chatter suddenly died down, leaving dead silence behind.

"How did you know, Mouri-san?"

"You doctor's license. You name has an alternate reading, which you used as an alias."

"I see. You're indeed worthy of the detective name." Asou turned towards the mayor. "Yes, my original name is Asou Seiji, and I know everything. I know that you and your goons killed my father and the rest of my family that night twelve years ago. I know that you lied to the police to get away with your crimes and pinned a horrible sin on my father. I came to the island to investigate three years ago and I found out about you and your deals. When the previous mayor realised it was me, he spilled everything before his heart gave out. I was the one who played that piano piece at his death two years ago and it was then that I decided to end it all."

"Hey, by 'end it all' did he mean—?"

"Papa, what deals is he talking about?"

"I guess there's no point in denying it any longer." As the mayor's face turned dark with malice, the spectators recoiled in the background. Not from surprise, though, but from rage and fear. It was a community on the periphery of society where everyone knew everyone, and because of that, they could not run away from each other. "Your father betrayed us. When he found out that we were using his overseas concerts for drug smuggling, he not only refused to cooperate but threatened to reveal us to the cops. We had no choice but to silence him. We never thought there was one spawn of his left somewhere on the surface of this planet. So what—are you going to send us after him?"

"No." Asou grabbed a hidden knife. "The likes of you are not going to the same place as my father!"

It was then that he realised the twisted truth laying underneath this case, the twisted truth laying underneath every crime committed out of revenge. He could see the signs in the darkened eyes and shaking hands of the son who was stripped from his family over a criminal dispute. He had been suffering for a longer time than anyone else had as vengeance gradually numbed him emotionally and melted away his sanity. He was the one who desperately needed help.

He caught his hand before the knife could reach its target.

"W—Why?"

Asou struggled against his grip.

"Why do you want to save him of all people?"

"No, I want to save you."

Everyone was looking at him with a mixture of shock and curiosity.

"If the police examines that white powder on the floor under the piano, the mayor's confession will only add on the pile of evidence against everyone involved. I can throw them to the police, there's no need for you to ruin your life over this." He pulled out the crumpled letter that was the origin of everything, the letter he had stuffed into his suit pocket before he had left for the island. "You hired me to investigate so that nobody would die. You wanted someone to stop you."

It was perhaps just a subconscious intention that had not even registered when he acted on it, but it was there. Beyond his blinding hatred and desire to deliver the justice to those untouchable for the local law enforcement, he was still a doctor who had dedicated his life to saving others. His planned crime spree was something he likely felt obligated to commit even though he never wanted to have blood on his hands. There he was, his fingers curling around the hilt of the knife shaking in the tight grip containing his rage as his conviction was falling apart upon the revelation of his true self. It was still not too late, he had not taken any lives yet.

"But—But still—"

A tiny voice cut through the heavy air.

"Narumi-sensei!"

It was the little boy that had run past him in the morning. His mother was fighting tooth and nail to keep him in the mass of spectators, telling that whatever he wanted to do near them was dangerous, but the only thing on his mind seemed to be getting to the once kind doctor he was so fond of.

Asou loosened his grip on the knife. "Kenta-kun—"

"No! Narumi-sensei is a kind and good doctor! Narumi-sensei—don't be scary—"

With a soft click, the knife clattered on the ground. His restrain was no longer needed as Asou fell to his knees, muttering soft apologies to the little boy in his sight who had become his salvation. He had a long and winding road ahead, both in coming to terms with himself and his life and regaining the trust of the people, but he knew that he would be alright. The invisible burden weighting on his shoulders for years had been finally lifted.

"Splendid work, detective." If looks could kill, he might have accidentally done what he had worked hard to prevent. After confessing his crimes in front of several witnesses though, whatever would come out of the mayor's mouth had to be some utter bullshit. "However, you said something along the lines of throwing us to the cops. I would hardly recommend that though. Not a soul in the island would dare to testify against me. I have ties with important people, people who are more influential than you, a simple detective, can ever be. If you side with someone who made an attempt on my life, you can take a knock quite easily."

Ah, so he was pulling that one.

"Liar! I heard it—!"

His mother corked the little boy up.

"Unless those ties reach the metropolitan police department, you'll be facing charges for drug dealing and multiple counts of murder soon enough. I have more than enough evidence on my hand to send your case straight to the supreme court. This island is not your kingdom, you have no right to terrorize the people living here." He pointed a finger at the mayor. "You and your accomplices will rot in prison for your days to come!"

"It has come to this then. How unfortunate."

The mayor reached into his suit.

"Papa, no—!"

"Shut up, Reiko!"

Everything happened in a split second. As soon as the mayor pulled the gun out, the spectators started running away screaming. Not having any sight on the corridor, he could only hope that the panicking crowd did not accidentally trample anyone to death. When his eyes snapped back at the barrel pointed at him, however, he realised that the one he should be worrying about the most was himself. His mind stilled into a blank emptiness as his limbs turned into lead.

He was an ex-cop, he should not have frozen up—

Just as the mayor was about to pull the trigger, his head was suddenly bashed into the floor by someone striking him down from behind. He watched in awe as tiny cracks appeared around the place his face came into contact with the ground. His gun slipped from his hands, sliding across the room. His minions could only gawp as the mysterious entity that had taken out their boss revealed itself as a teenage girl who had planted a feet into the back of the mayor's head.

A horrifying moment later, she stepped back into a composed karate stance.

"R—Ran?!"

Masquerading as the fiancé of the mayor's daughter, Gin had few chances to become proactive. Just when he had almost regretted his decision with his disguise, he had encountered a rather curious development. While criminals were prone to make enemies, he did not expect to see a person who might have ended up doing his job for him had he not bothered to set up a trap for the prophet. Moreover, that other detective with the kid had revealed that their real reason for coming to the island was the letter the person in question had sent them, and that seemed to clear up all mysteries while nurturing the realisation of his own mistake.

Kudo Shinichi was here because of a totally unrelated case.

While his gut feeling remained the same about the kid, his mind was reasoning loudly enough so that he could not ignore it anymore. It had been the case back at the roller coaster too, if he thought about the topic. He had been one of the many people having a fun time in the amusement park, only drawing attention to himself with stepping up as a detective when a case had happened. He was astoundingly smart and seemed to have a tendency to get into trouble, but that was not enough reason to kill him, especially since the kid was ridiculously famous for his age. That other detective and his daughter were hardly a team someone would bring to face them either.

It could be a coincidence for all he knew.

Even if it was strange that it had happened twice.

It was a good thing that he decided to deal with those deal breakers sooner than he had originally planned though, especially since that idiot of a mayor had already confessed. Not to mention that he had the nerve to refer to the organisation as something that would get him out of the hot water after he had gone back on them. If not stopped, he might reveal the entire organisation in front of a detective, something that cannot happen under any circumstances.

He wished this commotion was over so that he could shut him up permanently.

While it was a tempting idea to make this incompetent group stand the gaff of their insolent scheming, there was no telling what would fall out of their mouths in the interrogation room. Secrecy was of upmost importance in every mission in the current phase, even more so than success.

Then the mayor pulled a gun.

While he at least proved not to be that much of a pushover, he would gladly ask him what he planned to do with the locals who had also heard everything. The detective dude was going down nevertheless, or so had he thought. A straight kick to the back of the head, with enough power to actually crack the floor upon impact. It was the damn girl. Even if she did not look like it, she apparently had a physical prowess on pair with his, a trained assassin's.

And the one who followed her, in tow with the local police officer, was the kid.

When he saw the commotion around the piano room upon setting a foot into the community centre, Shinichi mentally prepared for the worst. While the old man had been undoubtedly tempted to take the matter in his hands, he thought he had been clear when he had said not to do anything drastic without him present to supervise the process, so that they could avoid any fatalities from possible misunderstandings and such. Given the scene foreign to his memories, he had been, apparently, not.

Ran rushed towards the crowd, passing by him.

"Shinichi?!"

"Ran, what the hell's going on here?"

Ran whipped her head towards the commotion in frustration. "I have no idea. I only went to the toilet for a couple of minutes and dad managed to do something to gather the half village here. I told him to stay put and keep an eye on Asou-san—oh yes, we found him. His real identity is—"

"Asai Narumi, the village doctor. I know."

The officer panted on the skid, tired of keeping up his pace. "Huh?! Narumi-chan?"

Before he could give a quick explanation on that particular part of the case, a collective scream slammed to their eardrums. Eyes glancing over the panicking crowd rushing towards them, in the opposite direction where they had been standing just seconds before, he dashed into the chaos with gritted teeth. Ran and the officer followed his lead without thinking much. Upon stopping harshly at the door of the piano room, he realised the reason of the fright outside. Kuroiwa, the mayor, surrounded by his accomplices, was pointing a gun at the old man and Seiji standing in the other side of the room like deers in headlight.

Apparently, that was enough for his sweet childhood friend to apply potentially lethal force on the said mayor.

However, this rather brute solution brought the case to an abrupt but relatively peaceful halt. A glance at their boss was enough to make the rest of the drug dealing gang to submit themselves in front of the law. While supervising the arrest and listening to the mayor's daughter preaching her and her fiancé's innocence, he caught the old man sharing friendly words with Seiji who was reading the coded message, making him wonder exactly what had gone down before he arrived.

Amidst the newfound resolution, there were things bothering him. Despite their presence stemming from every nook and cranny of the island, the organisation had not made any movement yet. As if they were waiting, hiding in the shadows to catch the best moment to fulfil their desires. If his life were their aim, he would not be in the piano room, striding his way towards the emptier half of the premise. If his life were their aim, he would be already six feet under. With walking out in the open, they had had more than enough chances to claim that. Alas, he had to consider that their objective was perhaps not as obvious as he had thought.

It had to do something with him though.

This timeline had been the same as the original until up the moment he arrived, and all differences since then was to be correlated to his activity or its consequences. As this case had nothing to do with the organisation as far as he knew, the reason for their unexpected presence was somehow connected to him.

It was probably a test. As he had never disappeared in this timeline, he was a well-known figure. Even if they suspected him for being the prophet, they were, as usual, extra careful when dealing with individuals whose sudden demise could attract attention. And he was one of those individuals. If nothing else, that created an easier temporary solution. Until he had enough resources in his hands, he had to convince them otherwise with acting as an upcoming talent blind to the big picture.

He just had to ignore the dreadful weight of their presence sitting on his shoulders.

If he could fool the organisation here, he could fool everyone else too.

Gin walked away from the crowd with hand in his pocket.

"Coincidence or not. We'll see about that."

Published: 21/07/2022

Rise and shine Kogoro, you don't really have many chances to in canon. Even though he's treated as a joke in the ninety percentage of the franchise, I like to think that he's smarter than only being used for comical relief, and that will be shown in this story.

Neyane and Gamelover41592: You know, I uploaded the previous chapter before I went to bed and checked on it the next morning. That was like: 'Six reviews overnight, like, how is that even possible?' I mean to tell thank you for reviewing. Also, Neyane, Akemi will be in the next arc. There's no point in actually deciding whether to follow the manga or anime, because after the next arc, canon goes out the window anyways.

WellIWannaDie2: I'm happy that you find this well-written. I plan to make this story more than the typical time-travel trope of which every anime fanfiction section has a number of examples. Well, expect Detective Conan. Perhaps it was because of the lack of time-travel stories in this fandom that the I-will-do-it-myself thing kicked in. And I will do quality, or at least make an attempt at that. If I manage to write this in the way I want though, this will be definitely quality.

Gosh, I'm getting hyped for my own story.