Chapter 72 Thick Skin Is Developed Through Practice

After thinking it over, he simply and quickly told Furuya Rei in the most concise way: "To put it simply, we were all saved by Fuu-chan using some special abilities. She is the sister of Gin, the girl you just mentioned."

The two have a good relationship, but they rarely contact each other because of Gin's personality. Fuu-chan doesn't work with Gin either and isn't part of the organization you're investigating. However, since you mentioned Vermouth and Matsuda used Vermouth's name as a pseudonym, this is understandable.

It seems that he has a similar misunderstanding with you, mistaking Kojinpei, and probably also me and Fuuka for members of the organization you are investigating. If he has a misunderstanding, he will take some action.

Inquiring about how Feng-chan joined the organization he works for, investigating the two of us—these actions would have a butterfly effect that would impact Feng-chan's abilities, and in severe cases, even affect my and Matsuda Fukuro's fate, not to mention…”

Hagi originally wanted to say that it was even more important to save Komorofushi and the squad leader, but when she thought that Matsuda was still unaware of their tragic news, she swallowed those words.

"Ahem! I just confirmed downstairs that the bombing here was probably planned by him. In order to delay him from blowing up the connecting bridge and give me time to return here, he disguised himself as Wafuu-chan and Hagi to steal here."

The target was a gang of thieves who stole high-priced luxury goods, hoping to lower his guard by presenting him as a criminal of the same kind. Matsuda, somewhat embarrassed by Hagiwara's statement, added that Hagiwara was unaware of the situation.

Hearing this, Hagiwara suddenly realized, "No wonder Gin had this misunderstanding."

When Furuya Rei heard this, he was unaware that it involved a complex interplay of time, space, past, future, and so on. Although he didn't understand what power Gin's sister, as Hagiwara had mentioned, had to change their fate of death.

The words seemed to imply that if things continued, Gin's sister would not be able to use her ability to save Hiro and the class president. However, she still keenly noticed one point: "So, Gin's sister is with you now? Since she is nearby, or even if she isn't nearby..."

In this age of convenient modern communication, if there's anything you don't want Gin to interfere with, why don't you just have Gin's sister talk to him? If they're really close, Gin probably wouldn't refuse her, right?

“No way! If it were that easy to contact you, we would have contacted you long ago.” Hagiwara’s voice was a little heavy when he said this. He could only tell Furuya Rei in the simplest terms: “I know it’s too direct, and you probably won’t believe me with your Conan’s perspective.”

But I still have to tell you, it was Feng Jiang from the future of 2025 who saved us, not the current her. The current her doesn't have the ability to save anyone. On the contrary, if someone were to influence her fate at this time, the future her might not be able to save anyone.

"...Hagiwara! Are you sure you haven't been watching too many movies?" Sure enough, upon hearing Hagiwara's words, Furuya Rei couldn't help but reveal his beady eyes and ask him a question, clearly showing that he didn't believe such a thing at all.

.

Upon hearing this, Hagiwara couldn't help but show a helpless expression. Just as he was about to say something to prove something, Kofuruya, who was extremely firm in his belief in Conan's philosophy, was about to speak.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, he heard a familiar voice: "Wow! There are only two minutes left before we have to leave this instance. Why are you only coming back now? This building has been exploding and shaking non-stop since just now."

I was worried you wouldn't make it in time and would be stuck at this point in time. That would be terrible; there would be no way to send you back seven or four years, and the time you lost would be truly gone forever.

"Feng-chan, weren't you waiting at the exit?" Hagiwara heard Feng Xingshou's voice, and even though he couldn't see her, he still felt a lot more relaxed.

Thinking that the danger that should have occurred when the instance was destroyed would still occur even if it was eliminated in reality, he quickly quickened his pace and walked towards the instance exit.

As Feng Xingshou followed him back, he replied, "I was waiting there! But there were only 3 minutes left and neither of you had returned. I was worried that you might have encountered a danger you couldn't handle, so I came to check on you."

"Sorry to have worried you, we've encountered some tricky situations." Hagiwara replied somewhat helplessly, preparing to explain to her when they got back.

Even though Matsuda knew they couldn't see, he couldn't help but look around and ask, "Has Kaze-chan come to meet us?"

“Yes! She’s worried we might encounter a danger we can’t handle.” Hagiwara quickly answered Matsuda, then, realizing it was more important to gain Kofuruya’s trust and express his own thoughts, he hurriedly added, “Kofuruya, I know it’s not scientifically accurate, but we really have been together for 25 years…”

"No need to say anything more. You want me to rely on my understanding of the organization and Gin to keep him calm for now, to help you get through this, and to prevent him from contacting that Fuu-chan from this period, right?" Before he could finish speaking, Furuya Rei asked him a question in return.

Because he maintained a close, intimate relationship with Hagiwara, he could hear the voice coming from the phone. He saw that the other person's voice was clear and sounded like a college student, yet the person seemed to know him.

She also called herself Feng-chan and mentioned someone named Gin, telling him not to contact her. Because she mentioned her, Feng Xingshou couldn't help but ask curiously, "Yan'er, are you talking to someone at this time?"

"Didn't you say you didn't want to lose the past seven years with your family and friends, so it's best not to contact them in the future? Who is he? How does he know me? And who is Gin? I don't remember knowing anyone with that name."

"Fūjō Gin is your brother's code name! We'll talk about the rest when we get back to the car." As expected of Furuya, he hadn't even told him his purpose yet!

He had already guessed it, so after responding to the Wind Guardian's curiosity, Hagiwara simply stated frankly, "That's right, so do you have any way to stop Gin this time..."

"What is your relationship with that Fuu-chan in Gin's eyes?" Furuya Rei suddenly asked this question on the other end of the phone after hearing him say that.

Hagiwara was caught off guard by the question, but considering that Kaze was right next to him, and given Kaze's insecure personality, if he answered that they were just friends, Kaze would probably never believe his confession again and would think he was joking with her.

But Kofuruya's job in the public security bureau is to investigate the criminal organization that Kaze-chan's brother works for. If he were to confess, what would Kofuruya think? Would she suspect that he was seduced by Kaze-chan into becoming a corrupt cop, or something like that...?

Although he was a little conflicted about Kofuruya's feelings for him, he only paused slightly before frankly answering the question about the relationship he wanted to develop with Fuu-chan in his future life plans: "...a romantic relationship that we are currently dating!"

Although we're currently only at the goal stage, without pursuing success yet. -_-||

"..." Once again, she was inexplicably seen as Hagiwara's girlfriend by people he knew. Kazesei was somewhat numb. This time, she didn't feel the embarrassment she felt when he made such ridiculous claims about her in front of her brother! Truly, thick skin is something you develop through practice. -_-||

"I see! Based on what you've said, I do have a way to help you get through this." Hearing Hagiwara's reply, Furuya Rei, who had just been a staunch believer in Detective Conan, no longer shared Hagiwara's concerns.

The reaction was completely unexpected; they agreed very readily and even added, "Matsuda was on the phone with Gin just now."

Tell Matsuda that you are not true members of the organization.

He was just an assistant who was recruited by one of his colleagues in the organization to collect activity funds. Because of that person, he also knew something about the organization. Unexpectedly, this fund collection activity seemed to have run into his mission site.

Given Gin's personality, he'll definitely ask who that colleague is. You guys should act a little mysterious with him and tell him that you won't reveal it to anyone else without that person's permission. If he really cares about the "Wind-chan" you mentioned...

They'll probably ask you how that Feng-chan became your accomplice. You can elaborate on that based on your understanding of Feng-chan. I don't know anything about you, so trying to come up with reasons for you might just create loopholes.

Besides, given your resourcefulness, you shouldn't need me to handle this kind of trivial matter, right? What you lack is simply a lack of understanding of the organization, and the tendency to say the wrong thing when dealing with Gin.

.

"Huh? It's that simple?" Hagiwara was surprised to hear the solution given by Kofuruya. At the same time, he felt a little strange. He wondered if the reason why Kofuruya specifically asked about his relationship with Fuu-chan in Gin's eyes was to help him and Kojinpei come up with a suitable way to deal with Fuu-chan's older brother.

But when did Furuya's personality become so easily trusted? He was a little puzzled when he heard Furuya Rei readily agree, but he didn't have time to ask him about it. He would just have to find out later when he had the chance to contact him.

“Heh…” Hearing his friend’s surprise, Furuya Rei couldn’t help but chuckle: “The organization is very strict about keeping its members’ secrets. Saying that will only make him believe what you’re saying.”

The more mysterious you act, the easier it is to fool Gin, given his suspicious nature. If you are honest with him, he will suspect you of having ulterior motives. In short, as long as you don't blindly cross his bottom line, he won't take it seriously.

I never expected Kaze-chan to be like this. He's completely different from Kaze-chan's serious personality. It's a wonder they became siblings! Hagiwara couldn't help but think to himself, but his tone was still quite serious when he said it: "OK! I know how to tell him."

"That's good. By the way, I'll prepare the things you asked me to prepare, but you have to promise me that you'll contact me immediately when you come back next time, no matter what the situation is." Furuya Rei knew that he was in a hurry to hang up the phone due to limited time, so he quickly stated his request.

"Okay!" Hagiwara agreed. There was no need for formalities with his friend, so he hung up without hesitation and said to Matsuda, who was waiting with his phone in hand, "Jinpei, Furuya said..."

"Understood!" After hearing Hagiwara's concise and rapid explanation of the solution Furuya Rei had given him, Matsuda immediately pressed the button to connect to Gin's phone.

Feng Xingshou watched the two of them interact with the phone from the side. Even if she didn't know the specifics, she knew that they seemed to be troubled by something because of her brother, and she hadn't been in contact with her brother for more than ten years.

Last time, due to the tight schedule on the Shinkansen, she was in a dungeon and had the responsibility of sending Matsuda, who shouldn't have entered the dungeon, back to his original location. She was determined to protect them from dying in other dungeons before they returned to their original locations.

For the brother he had been separated from for a long time, or even who had been separated by life and death, he could only hold his long and strong hand and heal him once with the Palm Immortal Technique before being separated by the dungeon.

Even now, during a phone call, hearing her brother's voice again filled her with excitement. Even as the countdown in the upper corner ticked away, she couldn't bear to urge Hagiwara and Matsuda to leave the instance with her...