Chapter 220, Seventy-Threeth Cycle (50)

Shuichi Akai hesitated for three seconds before finally following after them.

Anyway, he's Subaru Okiya now. Even if there was a "conflict" before, it was resolved perfectly in the end. There shouldn't be any problem with him appearing in front of Bourbon.

and……

The pink-haired graduate student raised her hand to push up her glasses, opened her squinted eyes, and stared questioningly at the strange man mixed among several policemen and Conan Edogawa.

Who is that long-haired man? Why does he seem to know Conan Edogawa and the others so well?

Moreover, he always felt that the other person was somewhat familiar.

Shuichi Akai couldn't discern anything from the other person's concealed attire, but he always trusted his intuition, so he boldly prepared to rush forward directly to the other person to observe and probe.

Instead of immediately greeting the last few members of the tracking team, he followed them for a while to find out what was going on.

The more he observed, the more confused Shuichi Akai became, and in the end he decided to go up and talk to him to find out more.

But just as he was about to step forward, the bug in his earpiece transmitted a slightly nervous voice from the boy.

"Ai, come and see, there seems to be a strange person spying on us outside?"

Shuichi Akai paused in his steps.

"Who is it?" Ai Haibara's alert voice came through the earpiece. "Where is it? What does it look like?"

"I didn't see clearly either, but it should have been a man, wearing a black trench coat and a hat," said Ai Orikasa, the boy from Professor Agasa's family. "He was sneaking around in this direction from the alleyway across the street earlier..."

Shuichi Akai turned around and rushed to Professor Agasa's house.

*

Only after confirming that Ai Haibara was alright and that there were no strange people around Professor Agasa's house did Shuichi Akai return to the Kudo residence with peace of mind.

The last rays of the setting sun shone into the kitchen as Shuichi Akai casually prepared his dinner, his mind still preoccupied with the strange stalking squad he had just seen on the street.

Although I don't know what Bourbon was playing, it certainly wasn't dangerous, otherwise he wouldn't have been playing with those three policemen and a child.

I just don't know what the other two strangers are up to, or why they're following Bourbon, who's now Amuro Tooru, as he goes to buy ingredients for Poirot's Café.

Or perhaps it's someone from the police?

It shouldn't be that bad...

Shuichi Akai prepared a dinner that wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly delicious either. He set it on the table and suddenly thought of Bourbon and Scotland, whose cooking skills were ridiculously good. He also thought of the time a few years ago when they were working together in the organization...

His feelings were somewhat complicated.

At the time, he never imagined things would develop to this point.

Shuichi Akai sat down at the dining table but didn't start eating immediately. Instead, he took out his phone and called Conan Edogawa.

The call was answered quickly, and it was quite lively on the other end; you could even hear Enomoto Azusa and the three boys from the Junior Detective Club.

Shuichi Akai's original question changed again: "Are you... at Poirot Cafe right now?"

"Hmm, what's wrong, Mr. Akai?" Conan Edogawa lowered his voice. The noise from the other side had subsided a bit, probably because they were further away from the children.

Shuichi Akai asked, "Is Tooru Amuro over there too?"

If it's Poirot's Café where Amuro Tooru is, then we should wait until Conan Edogawa returns before asking.

“No, it seems Mr. Amuro left in a hurry just now,” Conan Edogawa said, his voice tinged with seriousness.

Shuichi Akai thought his attitude had made him nervous, so he explained why he had called and asked about the tracking team he had seen earlier.

Conan Edogawa: "..."

Conan Edogawa laughed awkwardly, raising his hand to scratch the back of his head: "Oh, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. It's alright, that's not a dangerous person."

"A misunderstanding?" Shuichi Akai asked, voicing the question that concerned him most. "Who were those two strangers who were following Bourbon?"

“They are a baker and a sushi chef,” Conan Edogawa explained helplessly. “I originally thought they were people sent by the organization to monitor and observe Mr. Amuro, but it was all a misunderstanding. He was following Mr. Amuro because he liked the sandwiches Mr. Amuro made so much.”

Akai Shuichi: "..."

Shuichi Akai: "Because of the sandwich?"

Conan Edogawa couldn't help but chuckle as he said this: "Well, he said he'd never eaten such a delicious sandwich before. Plus, he's a baker in the shopping district next door, so he really wanted to figure out why Mr. Amuro's sandwiches were so delicious. That's why he would come over every day whenever he had time to keep an eye on Mr. Amuro and even follow him to buy ingredients."

Were those two strange strangers actually chefs trying to steal my cooking skills?

Shuichi Akai found it somewhat absurd.

Has Bourbon's cooking become this good?

Conan Edogawa continued, "Today, after Inspector Matsuda and the chef from the sushi restaurant next door heard about this, they were all a little worried about Mr. Amuro. They happened to see that baker following Mr. Amuro again, so they followed him too. Later, they ran into Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko, and together they cornered that guy and got to the bottom of things..."

Akai Shuichi: "..."

So after he left, the tracking team added three more members?

Conan Edogawa continued his rant: "Mr. Akai, let me tell you, Mr. Amuro is really serious about what he does. Even when he was working at Poirot's Cafe, he studied things diligently. He's clearly busy with other jobs... How does he manage his time? Mr. Amuro even happily forgave that person for stalking and offending him, taught him the secret recipe for sandwiches, and promised to let him sell them at his bakery. Mr. Amuro is so kind..."

Aside from Shuichi Akai.

Conan Edogawa coughed and changed the subject: "But that guy was really pitiful. Of all people to follow, he had to follow Mr. Amuro. When Mr. Amuro turned the tables on him and we caught him, he was terrified. But chefs these days are amazing. They not only travel the world to study food, but even in that situation, they still managed to grab Mr. Amuro's shoulder and loudly demand how he made the sandwich, leaving everyone stunned."

“…That’s really impressive.” At least Shuichi Akai couldn’t imagine what Bourbon’s expression would be if he did something like that. When the whisky team was working together before, Bourbon even got angry when Scottish taught him how to cook.

"Also, I suspect that Officer Matsuda and the others already knew that Mr. Amuro might have a heart problem, which is why they were so concerned about his safety before. They were also very nervous this time, much more nervous and worried than I was," Conan Edogawa said.

“They were close friends from the same period and still have a good relationship, so it’s not surprising that they know. It would be best to get the specific details from them,” said Shuichi Akai.

"I tried, but they're really wary of anything related to Mr. Amuro, and I couldn't get anything out of them at all," Conan Edogawa said dejectedly.

"However, something seemed off when Mr. Amuro left just now." Conan Edogawa's voice became serious again. "He suddenly received a phone call and left, and his expression was very frightening, just like whenever he encountered something related to the organization."

"Did he say anything?" Shuichi Akai frowned, recalling the person who seemed to be observing Professor Agasa's house.

“I went over and asked him secretly, but Mr. Amuro said it was nothing and told me not to worry too much.” Conan Edogawa sighed. “He even brought up the baker who followed him this time, saying that we were being too nervous.”

Shuichi Akai opened his mouth as if to say something.

"But his situation is really worrying. I originally wanted to try to go to Mr. Amuro's house to play and then secretly install a bugging device, but he immediately discovered my intention and rejected me." Conan Edogawa said with great regret.

Shuichi Akai froze for a moment: "..."

Wait, you're bugging Bourbon's house? Are you serious?

Shuichi Akai was shocked and couldn't help but let out a short laugh: "That's impossible. No one can install a bugging device on Bourbon's turf unless he does it voluntarily."

But voluntary? How could that be?

“By the way, Bourbon…” Shuichi Akai paused, getting used to calling him by another name, “Amuro-kun seems to have a dark blue bracelet on his wrist? Do you know when it appeared?”

"Hmm? Oh, that's a digital watch. I think it's the one that appeared in Hokkaido. What's wrong with it?" Conan Edogawa asked curiously.

“Is it a digital watch? But Bourbon isn’t the type to wear these kinds of accessories unless it’s for a temporary disguise.” Shuichi Akai frowned in thought. “Amuro Tooru from Poirot Cafe didn’t have this watch before, so it’s a bit strange that he suddenly started wearing it after that time in Hokkaido.”

Conan Edogawa, unaware of Amuro Tooru's previous situation, began to ponder upon hearing this.

"Does he wear it all the time, or only occasionally?" Shuichi Akai asked.

"It seems like... he always wears it. It's said that the watch is waterproof, so it won't get wet even when washing dishes." Conan Edogawa has been going to see Tooru Amuro whenever he has time these past few days, which proves this point.

Shuichi Akai tapped his index finger lightly on the table and made a decision: "If possible, please take a clear picture of my watch. I have a feeling something is off about it."

“Okay.” Conan Edogawa nodded seriously, then joked, “There’s no way there’s a bug inside, right? Mr. Amuro and I talk about everything. If someone had really bugged us, we would be finished already.”

Shuichi Akai hummed in agreement: "It can't be a bugging device. If it were, he would have noticed it. If he had, he wouldn't be casually chatting with you about the organization and the police."

It's impossible that the police suspected Amuro Tooru had become the second-in-command of the organization and were worried that he would betray them, so they put a listening device on him to monitor him, right?

It shouldn't be that bad.

But it would be a bit strange if Amuro Tooru suddenly started wearing a watch he never wore before for no reason.

However, Amuro Tooru himself did not act abnormally; perhaps he was just overthinking things... But Akai Shuichi still chose to trust his intuition and decided to investigate first.

The phone rang again just as he had hung up. This time it was the FBI, and Shuichi Akai had no choice but to answer it.

"Mr. Akai! News from the organization says there's movement in Scotland!" Carmel's voice was very tense. "It seems Scotland is cooperating with Gin to find all the spies in the organization. I don't know the specifics, but it seems Scotland is going to send someone to infiltrate the police department to steal intelligence from the spies!"

Shuichi Akai put down his chopsticks and stood up, saying, "Don't rush, Camel, tell me the whole story in detail."

*

April 1st.

Two o'clock in the morning.

Shuichi Akai, carrying a sniper rifle, tore off his disguise and left the Kudo residence, driving into the dark night.

He couldn't believe that Bourbon was unaware of such a major event, nor could he believe that Bourbon would have taken no action.

Amuro Tooru, or rather Furuya Rei, is currently staying at the Trojan Horse Apartments, a fact that Akai Shuichi had already figured out, but he hadn't dared to get close enough to observe.

The FBI agents he had assigned to the area said that Rei Furuya had gone out in the middle of the night in his white Mazda.

“Carmel, that’s enough. Stop following him. You’ll get caught.” Shuichi Akai said into his earpiece. “Since he’s on that road, there’s only one direction. I can just follow him from this side.”

He hung up the phone after saying that, frowning as he pondered what Furuya Rei was going to do.

Does he know about Scotland and Gin's plan to capture the undercover agent? Is he currently going out as Bourbon or as Furuya Rei?

In short, it cannot be Amuro Tooru's identity.

Therefore, he needs to be careful when following them.

Shuichi Akai followed the speeding white Mazda from a distance with a serious expression, and finally watched as the car stopped in the parking lot near the police station. His expression gradually became tense.

Akai Shuichi: "?"

The car door opened, and a blond young man in a neat gray suit stepped out.

Akai Shuichi: "???"

The blond, dark-skinned youth glanced around before turning and expertly entering the dark police station building.

Akai Shuichi: "..."

Shuichi Akai remained silent.

So blatant?

Is this person truly unafraid of death?