Chapter 140 I thought it was about redemption and regret, but...

The breakfast session ended with the other two adults completely at ease, while the little detective kept his eyes down, seemingly wanting to bury his head in his food, his mind filled with questions like, "Should I not be here?"

Conan: He's poking at the pancake with his fork and putting it in his mouth, completely absorbed in his struggle with the food, without even lifting his head.

You know, this pancake... how come it's chewed like Conan the Squirrel, cheeks bulging out... so delicious!

Concentrating on cooking.jpg

By the time Conan had calmed down, Morofushi Kagemitsu had already tidied himself up and left, looking refreshed—presumably to do some work for the Public Security Bureau.

At this moment, Nekono Ikuya's expression was the opposite of Morofushi Kagemitsu's. He yawned slightly, his emerald eyes misting over, making no attempt to hide his intentions. He simply waved to Conan and then lazily curled up in his room to catch up on sleep.

Having missed his chance to ask a question, Conan Edogawa glanced at the closed door of Ikuya Nekono's bedroom, then at Kagemitsu Morofushi, who had already walked away: ...

He shook his head, picked up his little skateboard, and decisively slipped out the door.

Well, he should ask Mr. Akai first.

...

“Boya, you asked if there was a special connection between the Samuel art exhibition and the organization…why did you suddenly ask that?”

Conan arrived at Subaru Okiya's house on his skateboard. Subaru quickly welcomed him inside, and without much small talk, Conan went straight to asking the question that concerned him most. Shuichi Akai, disguised as Subaru, opened his dark green eyes in curiosity.

Akai: He slightly opened his eyes as a sign of respect.

Conan didn't hide anything and repeated the key sentence he had heard: "'Who told him to choose to cause trouble at Samuel's art exhibition?' - That's what the organization member said when commenting on the unfortunate situation of the people they had captured, and his tone sounded like he was afraid of something."

He looked up, his expression serious beyond his years, his blue eyes gleaming with the light of a detective: "That's a strange statement. The Samuel exhibition is a neutral event, so the organizers shouldn't care whether others are making deals at the exhibition."

"But they specifically emphasized the name 'Samuel,' as if the name itself had some special meaning. Mr. Akai, is there any connection between Samuel, or the Samuel art exhibition and the organization?"

Shuichi Akai picked up his teacup, the rising steam momentarily obscuring his expression.

He didn't answer immediately, as if he was choosing his words carefully, or perhaps he was recalling something.

After a moment, he spoke slowly, his voice lower than before: "Boya, your intuition is very sharp."

"Indeed, Samuel himself and his art exhibitions were not simply artistic symbols to some insiders in the organization."

He was, of course, one of the people in the know here.

"Is Samuel also a member of the organization?"

Conan asked in shock, "A world-renowned, deceased genius painter? That's a bit beyond my imagination."

Wait a minute, it doesn't seem impossible. Gil and Vermouth are both well-known public figures, especially Vermouth.

Conan recovered from his shock and began to consider the possibility that Samuel might have faked his death like Sharon.

The painter's description states that Samuel died at a young age, so it wasn't like Vermouth's attempt to conceal her agelessness.

Could it be that their identity has been discovered and they've been forced to go into hiding?

"No." Shuichi Akai shook his head, denying the guess, but his next words made Conan's heart beat even faster.

"Samuel was not a member of the organization. However, he had a rather close relationship with an extremely dangerous member of the organization."

"An extremely dangerous... codenamed member?"

Conan's mind raced, going through all the known codenamed members of the organization. Gin? Vodka? Vermouth? Chianti? Korn? Or perhaps an even more secretive member he didn't yet know?

"Who is it?" he couldn't help but ask.

"It's Bourbon."

Shuichi Akai looked up, his green eyes clearly reflecting Conan's nervous little face.

"Bourbon?" Conan repeated the code name in confusion... He'd never heard of it before.

Did Scotland not tell the boy about Bourbon? Shuichi Akai's eyes flickered twice.

That's interesting.

However, observing the boy's attitude reveals that he is somewhat wary of Amuro Tooru.

Although it originated from suspicion about Amuro Tooru's character in matters of the heart, it was just right to maintain a level that neither made Bourbon wary nor made the boy lower his guard.

Bourbon is a very perceptive person. Could it be that Scotland is afraid that if the boy knows too much, he will easily reveal his weaknesses in front of Bourbon and encounter danger?

Shuichi Akai has reserved his opinion for the time being.

He continued, "He is the organization's top intelligence expert, a man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. He is skilled at psychological warfare and his dangerousness should not be underestimated."

Even Mr. Akai said so? Conan's heart grew even heavier.

Then Shuichi Akai dropped an even bigger bombshell: "And Samuel and Bourbon... Several years ago, when Bourbon was working in France under a certain identity, he met Samuel, who was very popular in the French art world at the time... and eventually they even registered their marriage."

"Samuel was Bourbon's legal partner in Paris, France."

"Married?!" Conan jumped up from the stool, his eyes wide with surprise. This time he was genuinely astonished.

He simply couldn't reconcile the mysterious and dangerous codenamed members with something as mundane as marriage.

Are you kidding me?!

“Yes, a legal marriage,” Shuichi Akai affirmed, his tone carrying a complex meaning, whether it was a sigh or something else, it was hard to tell.

"Although the relationship did not last very long and ended with Samuel's unexpected death, during that time, Bourbon and Samuel were indeed recognized as a loving couple in the Paris art scene, and their relationship seemed quite good."

Is a ruthless and dangerous codenamed member of the organization legally married to a talented and gifted painter?

Conan was greatly shocked and wondered if he had been encountering a lot of gay men lately.

“But Samuel has already… so Bourbon to Samuel…?” he murmured, trying to understand their relationship.

"Is it true?" Shuichi Akai said the word for him, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and slowly said, "Bourbon's sincerity... ha."

"In that world, the line between truth and falsehood is often blurred. Perhaps there was genuine affection, after all, Samuel was an extremely charismatic man. But Bourbon, every one of Bourbon's consorts was charismatic."

“Bourbon was very affectionate during their relationships, but each time, not long after, those people would die for various reasons... Nobody knows if Bourbon was involved.”

Conan: "?!"

I thought it was a story of redemption and regret, but it sounds more like Black Widow's daily life!

Conan's pupils dilated; Bourbon was indeed in danger.

Just then, Shuichi Akai seemed to suddenly remember something, tilted his head slightly to look at Conan, and asked, "Speaking of which, boya."

"Didn't you ask Mr. Akashi or Mr. Nekono about Samuel and Bourbon, or about this exhibition?"

Why go to all this trouble to ask him?

Conan's body stiffened involuntarily, and the scene from this morning flashed through his mind.

"Uh... this..."

Conan gave an awkward smile, his eyes darting around, and he subconsciously scratched the back of his head.

"I haven't found a suitable opportunity to ask yet."

He couldn't very well say that because of the unexpected discovery this morning, he now has a conditioned reflex to avoid seeing Nekono-nii and Akashi-nii, could he?

The way adults date is still too advanced for a primary school student like him.

He instinctively put it on himself and Ran. Conan's cheeks turned bright red!

Shuichi Akai keenly noticed Conan's awkwardness and unease at that moment, as well as his subsequent shyness.

Akai Shuichi: "?"

He considerately refrained from investigating further.

Shuichi Akai decided to ask another question that he had been curious about for a long time, and which was also quite serious.

"I actually have a question too, boya," Shuichi Akai said thoughtfully, "about the Nekono siblings and Tooru Amuro... what exactly is going on between them?"

The seemingly clever Nekono siblings can't all be ruined by the Nyanko-sensei, can they?

He looked at Conan and asked directly, a rare occurrence for him: "Is that Ms. Oakuri dating Amuro Tooru? Their interaction at the art exhibition didn't seem like that of ordinary friends."

Conan's lips twitched as he recalled the natural and intimate atmosphere between Amuro Tooru and Ms. Oakuri at the aquarium and art exhibition, as well as Akashi's nonsense about "twins fighting over each other."

"I...I don't know either." He told the truth, his tone full of helplessness.

“Sakura-neechan seems to have a good impression of Amuro-san, and Amuro-san is very considerate towards her. But Neko-nii-san doesn’t seem to approve, and Sakura-neechan doesn’t want to hear it… Their sibling relationship seems a bit complicated.”

He omitted Akashi's embellished "analysis," feeling that it would only make things more confusing.

Shuichi Akai nodded slightly, accepting the answer, and then asked a more crucial question:

"So, what about Nekono Ikuya himself? What is his relationship with Amuro Tooru? They seemed to be quite close before."

This question made Conan perk up; he immediately sat up straight and answered confidently:

"Nekono-nii has a lover!"

This is something he saw and heard with his own eyes, and was unexpectedly confirmed this morning!

Although he didn't really want to confirm it.

"Oh?" Shuichi Akai raised an eyebrow, seemingly intrigued by the answer. "Who is it?"

“Yes…” Conan was about to say something to Brother Shi, but he swallowed the words back.

Although he felt that Mr. Akai was trustworthy, Akashi's identity was sensitive, and it was also someone else's privacy. It seemed that Nekono and Akashi had been keeping it a secret all along.

Conan hesitated for a moment, then chose a more vague statement: "He is her lover who has been with her for a long time, and they have a very good relationship."

Lucky buff: Temporarily escaped the social death crisis.

He paused, then added, "Nekono-nii himself said he has a lover, and people he used to know have said the same thing, so it shouldn't be wrong."

Shuichi Akai listened quietly, his deep green eyes unfathomable. He didn't press for details about his lover's identity, but simply nodded and made the information a memory.

He wondered, "So, Nekono Ikuya has a lover?"

Conan, however, was puzzled as to why Mr. Akai suddenly asked him about Nekono, Sakuragi, and Amuro.

...Bourbon?