Chapter 130 Samuel's Art Exhibition

On one side, the young detective is bewildered by the adults' confusing social interactions, while on the other side, the atmosphere in Amuro Tooru's apartment is completely different.

The evening light was still bright, streaming through the clear windows and spreading a warm golden hue across the floor. Rei Furuya finished his routine intelligence gathering, then quietly disguised himself and went to the Metropolitan Police Department to handle internal public security matters. When he pushed open the door to enter the room, a barely perceptible trace of weariness lingered between his brows.

However, when his gaze fell upon the figure on the sofa, that faint layer of weariness melted away silently, like ice meeting the sun in spring.

A gentle ripple spread across his purplish-gray eyes, instantly softening them beyond belief.

Nekono Yuuya, dressed in soft loungewear, curled up in a corner of the sofa, her short black hair sticking up lazily. She was looking down slightly, intently at the tablet screen on her lap. Her emerald green eyes appeared exceptionally focused in the light from the screen, and her long eyelashes drooped like butterflies.

He seemed to have just taken a shower, his body carrying the refreshing scent of shower gel, a familiar and comforting smell to Rei Furuya.

"I'm back, Yuya." Rei Furuya took off his coat and hung it up, his voice unconsciously softening.

“Welcome back, Zero.” Nekono Ikuya looked up, a smile naturally blooming on his face. That smile seemed to instantly absorb all the warm light in the room, bright yet carrying a touch of feline laziness and cunning. He put down his tablet, casually reaching out and beckoning his fingertips in the air: “Tired? Come here.”

Rei Furuya walked over, took his hand, and sat down next to him, pulling him halfway into his arms. He rested his chin gently on the other's soft black hair and took a deep breath.

“It’s alright,” he closed his eyes, his voice a little muffled, “It was just that processing the list was a bit troublesome and took a little effort… but it’s done now.”

"As expected of Mr. Furuya, you're always successful." Nekono Yuuya teased with a smile, leaning relaxed against him.

After a quiet moment of snuggling together, Furuya Rei seemed to suddenly remember something, carefully pulled out two beautifully designed tickets from the inside pocket of his suit, and handed them to Nekono Ikuya.

"Hmm?" Nekono Ikuya took it with a puzzled look, her eyes falling on the ticket—"Samuel Art Echoes: Tokyo Exhibition".

His emerald eyes widened instantly, and he sat up straight in surprise, turning to Furuya Rei: "Samuel's art exhibition?! When did it become a Tokyo exhibition? I didn't even notice it."

His eyes looked strange.

Samuel was an identity he used in France, which he cultivated to a great degree in Paris.

He was a highly acclaimed genius painter during his lifetime, and his fame only increased after his death. After all, the fall of a genius is always regrettable, while death elevates art.

It felt rather strange, Nekono Ikuya thought, after all, he had never considered what would happen after his death, and he didn't know that he would still hear news of his past identity after so many years.

However, these two tickets...

He looked up at Rei Furuya, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. "Rei~ Is this an invitation to a date? At Samuel's art exhibition?"

“Taking a new love to an old flame’s art exhibition for a date,” he drawled, his emerald eyes curving into crescents, the ticket between his fingers dangling slightly, his tone almost overflowing with mockery, “Mr. Furuya, you know how to have fun.”

Looking at Nekono Ikuya's bright and sly smile, Furuya Rei wasn't surprised at all that he was being teased like that.

He raised his hand, his calloused fingertips gently pinching Nekono Ikuya's cheek, his tone tinged with affectionate helplessness: "What nonsense are you talking about? Aren't you the 'old flame' and the 'new love'?"

Rei Furuya paused, a smile appearing in his purplish-gray eyes. "Or perhaps, Yuya, you now prefer the identity of 'Samuel'? I need to help you recall how 'Samuel' came to be..."

Before he could finish speaking, Nekono Ikumi covered his mouth with a smile, her ears turning slightly red: "Stop! Don't bring up the past!" Those memories of "Samuel" and "Amuro Tooru" in Paris, passionate, romantic, and tinged with the madness of artists, still make one's heart race when they think about them now.

The Samuel period marked the first time Nekono Yuya and Amuro Tooru met after Furuya Rei joined the organization, following a long period of separation.

...In short, they were having a pretty wild time without arousing suspicion.

So much so that some members of the organization even suspected that Samuel's death might be one of the reasons why Bourbon later became so cold-hearted.

Of course, so much time has passed that very few people know the story of Bourbon and Samuel.

Vermouth scoffed at this superficial suspicion that misjudged Bourbon's dangerous nature.

A bunch of fools blinded by Bourbon's mask.

Rei Furuya kissed his palm, and continued after he let go, "Okay, I won't say anything. I really want to ask you out, but... it's not exactly a 'date'."

"Huh?" Nekono Ikuya blinked.

“The organization has recently lost another batch of data,” Furuya Rei’s tone became serious, as if he were working. “Information suggests that they might be using these high-end venues with controlled crowds to conduct handovers or transactions. This Samuel art exhibition is one of the key locations of suspicion.”

Upon hearing this, Nekono Ikuya's teasing expression faded, replaced by a focused interest. He tilted his head. "Losing data again? How many times has this happened? Is the organization's management getting more and more chaotic, or..." He narrowed his blue eyes, "...is there a 'helpful person' helping out?"

“Who knows?” Rei Furuya shrugged. “Anyway, the data is currently out there.”

He added, "However, it doesn't seem to be very important information. Rum isn't in a hurry; his focus is elsewhere."

Actually, Furuya Rei's recent focus isn't on finding these low-value documents; he's waiting for Rum to make his move.

He went alone this time; none of his police officers were dispatched.

Of course, Nekono Ikuya will also go.

Winning over Nekono is a crucial long-term task for Bourbon! Of course, he should be taken to the art exhibition!

“Understood.” Nekono Ikuya said knowingly, and then his smile became lively and cheerful. “Then… let ‘Okuri-sama’ accompany you!”

"Sakuragi?" Furuya Rei was taken aback.

“Yes!” Nekono Ikuya exclaimed enthusiastically, “It’s decided! From today onwards, Samuel will be Okuori’s favorite painter! She has long admired the works of the late genius painter Samuel, and she happened to meet her friend, Mr. Amuro, who is quite knowledgeable about this subject. Isn’t it reasonable for them to visit the exhibition together?”

Nekono Ikuya's bright blue eyes sparkled as she leaned closer to Furuya Rei: "Okuriri is a huge fan of Samuel. She's really, really looking forward to going to an art exhibition with a friend who also appreciates Samuel's art. You'll go with her, right?"

"Right, right~" Nekono Ikuya's eyes sparkled.

Looking into his lover's expectant eyes, Rei Furuya couldn't bring himself to say anything against it.

He chuckled immediately: "Yes, my lady Okuri."

...

Morofushi Kagemitsu walked in carrying shopping bags: "I'm home, Conan. Ikuya won't be back tonight, so it'll just be the two of us for dinner."

"Akashi-nii is back! Okay, I got it." Conan looked up and greeted him, his gaze habitually sweeping over the other person.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on the casual jacket that Morofushi Kagemitsu had casually placed on the sofa, with its pocket half-exposed.

A small section of paper with a gold foil pattern peeked out from the coat pocket.

Conan's detective intuition was instantly triggered. The texture of the paper and the pattern on the exposed parts... looked very familiar. This afternoon, when he and the Junior Detective League bumped into Subaru Okiya on their way home, he seemed to have also caught a glimpse of a similar golden reflection in Subaru's coat pocket.

I didn't pay attention then, but now that the two are combined...

“Akashi-nii,” Conan walked over casually and pointed to the edge of the paper, “What is this? It looks very delicate.”

Morofushi Kagemitsu was arranging the ingredients when he heard this. He turned around, saw the ticket that was sticking out, and smiled naturally: "Oh, it's a ticket to an art exhibition. A friend gave it to me. It's supposedly a memorial exhibition for a late painter named Samuel. It's quite a rare find."

Samuel? Conan quickly searched his memory bank. He vaguely remembered him; he seemed to be a very talented but untimely French painter, quite famous… Wait! He suddenly recalled that a few days ago, Ran and Sonoko were chatting and seemed to have mentioned a high-end art exhibition in Tokyo that featured Samuel's paintings, and tickets were extremely difficult to obtain.

Conan Edogawa suddenly realized what was going on and explained how he knew.

Mr. Okiya also got a ticket... Brother Akashi also got a ticket... I didn't realize they liked paintings before.

The coincidence is quite high.

Conan's brain was working at lightning speed. Mr. Okiya is an FBI agent, and Akashi is a Public Security officer. They're both interested in this art exhibition…

A thought flashed through his mind like lightning—the organization! Could this art exhibition be related to that dark organization? Is it a trading venue? Or will members of the organization appear?

This could very well be a pivotal occasion where multiple parties come together!

Logically, he shouldn't have gotten involved in this matter rashly, but he had heard Xiaolan say that she would also be going.

Why don't you ask?

"An art exhibition..." Conan skillfully switched to a curious expression, his eyes sparkling as he leaned closer. "Samuel... I've heard of him. His paintings are beautiful and unique! Akashi-nii, can I go with you to see it?"

Morofushi Kagemitsu paused slightly as he wiped his hands. He looked down at Conan, a series of considerations flashing through his mind.

Take Conan with us? There might be members of the organization operating there; it's dangerous. Don't take him? With that kid's luck, he might get caught up in some random accident, which would be even more dangerous.

Morofushi Hiromitsu recalled Conan's rather bizarre constitution, which seemed to attract incidents related to the organization...

In contrast, having him by my side at least allows me to protect him within sight and also control the situation to some extent.

He hesitated for a few seconds, and just when Conan was about to think he was being rejected, he smiled gently: "Alright. We happen to have plenty of tickets, so let's go together."

Morofushi Hiromitsu looked at Conan's eyes, which lit up instantly, and felt both helpless and amused. He knew that this kid was interested in more than just the art exhibition.

“However, Conan,” he said in a gentle but serious tone as he continued to prepare the ingredients, “you must stay close to me and not wander off. There will be a lot of people at the art exhibition, and it will be troublesome if you get separated.”

Akashi-nii-san knows he's not a child, yet he still says things like that... I understand, he means there might be suspicious people around.

"Okay! I understand!" Conan nodded vigorously.

Meanwhile, Morofushi Hiromitsu frowned inwardly. How did Conan know there was something wrong with this art exhibition? A pink-haired figure flashed through his mind.