Chapter 204 Seventy-Threeth Cycle (34)
"Ring ring—"
Shinichi Kudo groggily turned off the alarm clock, stretched, and habitually called out to his wife.
"Lan—Lan—Lan—"
After calling him a few times, he realized that Ran Mouri was going out with Sonoko Suzuki and wasn't home.
"That guy Sonoko..."
After muttering a few words to himself, Shinichi Kudo tidied himself up and left the Kudo residence, reverting to his mature, steady, and reliable detective persona.
The weather in early spring is still a bit chilly, but the blooming cherry blossoms and bright sunshine are enough to warm people's hearts and minds.
Shinichi Kudo walked toward the Matsuda residence with his hands in his pockets.
Time flies.
Ten years have passed since the organization was destroyed. He is now 27 years old, married his childhood sweetheart whom he had loved for a long time, and has opened his own thriving Kudo Detective Agency.
It can definitely be described as a happy life.
—If it weren't for that regret, it would truly be perfect.
But there are no "what ifs." Even after ten years, whenever he thinks of that person, he is not the only one who still feels a dull ache in his heart and difficulty breathing, a deep sense of unease.
However, things have improved recently, and Shinichi Kudo's mood has improved a lot.
When he passed by Professor Agasa's house, he saw that the door was open, so he went in to say hello.
"Doctor...wait, what are you all doing here?" The greeting turned into a surprised question.
The three 17-year-old high school students sitting on the sofa also greeted him.
“Ah, it’s Mr. Kudo,” said Genta Kojima casually.
"Good morning, Mr. Kudo." Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya was as polite as ever.
“We’ve come to see Professor Agasa to discuss going cherry blossom viewing together. Would you like to join us, Mr. Kudo?” Ayumi Yoshida invited him with a smile.
Shinichi Kudo smiled and declined.
The three high school students didn't seem to care. Once they realized he was alright, they turned back to their lively discussion about where to go see the cherry blossoms.
Even though Conan Edogawa has "left" and they don't know what happened, the three children still developed a strong interest in detectives and reasoning, and even started their own reasoning club at school.
Professor Agasa smiled and chimed in, briefly pausing to think about the cherry blossoms before suddenly saying that he had to go somewhere else after the cherry blossom viewing, so everyone should go home early today.
Shinichi Kudo paused in his steps, almost immediately knowing what he was going to do.
Hiroki Sawada, who had just reached the door, also stopped in his tracks, his eyes flickered slightly, and his expression was somewhat sad.
Hiroki Sawada is 21 years old this year. He has also resumed his true identity and moved in with his father. However, he spends most of his time doing research at the university and conducting experiments at the Matsuda residence here.
He's been putting everything aside lately and coming here every day. He also often visits Professor Agasa and talks to him. He clearly heard what Professor Agasa said just now.
"It's about time," he sighed somewhat absentmindedly. "Another year has passed..."
Shinichi Kudo hummed in agreement and stood at the door, waiting for him to go in and greet Professor Agasa.
The cherry blossoms blooming by the roadside were blown down by the wind, and the pink petals flew past him, attracting his attention.
Every year when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, acquaintances will bring a cherry blossom to the cemetery to visit the deceased.
It has been ten years since Tooru Amuro, or rather Rei Furuya, died.
The person who lies buried underground actually died on Christmas Day, December 25th.
What fell from the sky at that time were not cherry blossoms, but snowflakes.
But cherry blossoms have a very special meaning to them, and with the legendary cherry blossom magic, people gradually started bringing cherry blossoms to see him at this time of year.
It was as if they were hoping that the cherry blossoms in their hands would transform into that blond, dark-skinned youth and reappear in this world.
Unlike the anniversary of their death, they didn't make any promises this time. During the cherry blossom season in March and April, they would each choose a time to hold a cherry blossom and place it in front of the tombstone.
However, the Miyano family and the Morofushi family usually go together.
Morofushi Kagemitsu, Matsuda Jinpei, Hagiwara Kenji, and Date Wataru would also go together.
Shinichi Kudo pondered which day he should go, hoping to avoid running into everyone else.
Ran and Sonoko, after unexpectedly learning about this cherry blossom magic, also said they wanted to go. They even said that if there really was such a miraculous magic in the world, they wanted to help bring Amuro back to life... Let's take them with us this time.
While I was pondering, Hiroki Sawada came out.
The two headed towards the Matsuda residence next door, chatting about recent events as they walked: cases, the Starlink project, the Mars colonization program, the lunar exploration program...
The main topic is their secret time travel plan, which they have finally succeeded in seeing hope for.
The door opened to reveal Noah's Ark.
Noah's Ark now has a very flexible robotic body, but he still often complains that Matsuda Jinpei used better materials for Unit-00 than for his own.
The 73rd generation Unit-00 is no longer so easy to explode; if it were taken out, it would be enough to shock the world.
But Matsuda Jinpei clearly didn't have that idea, and was still not satisfied. In his spare time outside of those research projects, he was still modifying Unit-00, as if he really wanted to create a Gundam.
Shinichi Kudo passed by the towering Unit-00, glanced at it a couple of times, and then entered the underground research lab with Hiroki Sawada.
Just as they went in, Akemi Miyano came out, carrying two plates, and greeted them with a smile.
The Miyano family also bought a house nearby. Apart from Akemi Miyano, the other three are all researchers, and they have practically turned their home into a research institute.
However, Shiho Miyano, Elena Miyano, and Atsushi Miyano will still come to the Matsuda residence to conduct experiments on the time travel project.
After all, all the relevant data and instruments are here, and the only Dream Chair with zero data from the organization is also here.
It's still early, and Shiho Miyano is the only person in the lab.
Or perhaps she didn't go home at all last night.
Shinichi Kudo greeted her, asked if she had rested well, and chatted about yesterday's research.
Hiroki Sawada picked up the phone connected to the time machine by countless wires, first changed the chat nickname, and then began to look through the records.
Shinichi Kudo immediately came over and watched it with him.
28-year-old Shiho Miyano still habitually wore a white coat. She walked over with one hand in her pocket and a steaming cup of coffee in the other.
"Have you noticed any changes in the world line?" she asked.
Shinichi Kudo shook his head: "I specifically asked everyone again after I got up today, and observed the whole way, but I didn't find anything unusual."
“It seems that the changes so far are not enough.” Hiroki Sawada’s fingers quickly flipped through the chat history between the other people and everyone from ten years ago. “Even if we successfully sent the phone back to ten years ago and Zero found it, and even made him believe that we agreed to our plan, we still cannot change the current timeline where Zero is dead.”
He paused for a moment before continuing, "It's also possible that the world line has changed, but we didn't notice, since we're not observers, and Zero, who is an observer, isn't here either."
Shiho Miyano frowned, her face grave: "It's not enough."
"Don't rush," Shinichi Kudo reassured the two. "We can't rush things. This is already a huge step forward. We can see hope. Let's take it slow. Everything will definitely change next."
The development of this world is not based on the rules of countless parallel worlds that do not intersect, but on a huge world tree with countless possibilities and linear development. The only observable world line exists.
Therefore, on this timeline, the future can influence the past, and the past can also influence the future.
As long as you can do it.
And they have already done it.
This is a miracle even more incredible than the magic of cherry blossoms.
It was the hope they had been waiting for for ten years.
Shinichi Kudo turned his head and glanced at the dense text, formulas, and diagrams in the documents on the table.
[Besides this world, there are other worlds, but different worlds have different rules, and even different universal laws.]
The world we live in is governed by the rule that countless different timelines exist, with one being reality and multiple others existing only in theory. This means we live in a single universe, not a parallel universe.
Theoretically, countless possible worldlines exist, but they are merely theoretical and not actual; the world operates along only one of them. However, even the slightest difference can create a different worldline, causing the world to jump from one worldline to another. The worldline after the jump becomes the unique "real existence," while the previous worldline becomes a "theoretical possibility" unknown to others.
[Ordinary people cannot observe changes in the world line; at most, they experience some hippocampal effects and a sense of déjà vu. Only those who have transcended the rules can observe all world lines and possess complete memories. This is true for Rei Furuya and Takedo Hanagaki, as well as the members of their respective reincarnation groups.]
Before the story ended, the world consciousness maintained very strict control over the world line; exceeding 2% would trigger a world restart. However, after the finale, the world consciousness seemed to disappear, and at that point, any changes could be made. (This might be due to Rei Furuya's death and the disappearance of the system, or it could be that the world line changed without our knowledge.)
[Plan 1: Change the world line]
Worldline convergence: This refers to worldlines leading to a common outcome. Countless possible worldlines intertwine to form the worldline convergence range, and these countless worldline convergence ranges, in turn, constitute an even larger worldline convergence range.
The "Furuya Zero Deaths" worldline has been identified as the largest convergence zone to date. The convergence zone of countless worldlines collectively covers the development of all worldlines, and no "Furuya Zero Survival" worldline has yet been discovered.
If only I could go back ten years...
[Plan 2: Reverse Cause and Effect]
[When the worldline deviates from causality, it automatically corrects itself, ensuring the world as perceived by people perfectly conforms to causality, thus restoring worldline convergence. However, causality supersedes worldline convergence; even worldline convergence cannot occur if it violates causality.]
Even world consciousness and systems cannot defy the law of causality, so there must be some inevitable reason leading to "Zero Deaths in Furuya." Once this reason is found, and causality is reversed using time travel, the outcome of "Zero Deaths in Furuya" can be changed.
[Plan 3...]
After reading the chat history, Hiroki Sawada typed a few more words and chatted with the person on the other end.
"Who's holding the phone right now?" Shiho Miyano asked.
“It is Mr. Morofushi,” Hiroki Sawada said.
Shinichi Kudo glanced at it and, sure enough, saw that the nickname on the chat page had changed.
【Cherry Blossoms (Hiroki)】
【Zero (Hiro)】
Unsurprisingly, ten years ago, Morofushi Kagemitsu asked a great many questions, his words filled with tension, worry, unease, and even panic.
"By the way, where are Mr. Morofushi and the others? I remember they took the past few days off. Why aren't they here?" Shinichi Kudo asked.
It was a bit surprising that the four people who were most anxious about the development ten years ago weren't glued to their phones.
"The plan over there doesn't officially start until tomorrow, so the four of them agreed to go deliver cherry blossoms today." Shiho Miyano took a sip of coffee, the swirling white steam blurring her features.
“Noah’s Ark and I went there yesterday and met a lot of people.” Hiroki Sawada raised his hand and gently patted Noah’s Ark’s shoulder, his eyebrows slightly lowered and a complicated smile on his face. “In fact, since we successfully sent the phone there and established contact the day before yesterday, everyone has made time to go see Zero.”
"It's not just because I'm emotional and want to see him and talk to him, but also because I won't have time starting tomorrow. After all, I'll be very busy and stressed after that, and I don't know what will happen." Shiho Miyano's posture had changed to holding her coffee with both hands.
Shinichi Kudo's eyes widened: "So you all went to see Mr. Furuya?!"
The two of them had a "what else?" look on their faces.
Shinichi Kudo: "..."
Shinichi Kudo gritted his teeth and immediately took out his phone to contact Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki.
Although they weren't entirely clear on the situation, after Shinichi Kudo said he might not have much time to visit Rei Furuya afterward, Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki immediately said they would prepare to come back right away and take Sakura to the cemetery to visit Mr. Amuro in the afternoon.
Even though it's been ten years, they still often unconsciously use the name Amuro Tooru when they chat.
The title "Mr. Amuro" had been used for far too long, and his sudden departure gave them no chance to recover. Because it was so unexpected, all their memories seemed to remain stuck ten years ago.
Every time he thinks about this incident, even though ten years have passed, Shinichi Kudo still feels as if he has clearly returned to the feeling of shock and disbelief that he had when he was still Conan Edogawa and heard the news of Rei Furuya's death.
They had reached the final step, they were about to succeed, and everyone was fully prepared. How could he have died?
When he was told the whole truth, he found it even harder to accept...
Having determined the time to cast the cherry blossom magic, and seeing that Hiroki Sawada had put down his phone, Shinichi Kudo immediately stepped forward and picked it up.
When he changed the nickname after the cherry blossom to Shinichi Kudo, the nickname on the opposite side became Hiroki Sawada.
[Sakura (Shinichi Kudo): Where's Furuya-san? Why does he seem to rarely show up and chat with us?]
[Zero (Hiroki): He's busy preparing for the next phase of the plan, and it's better for him to keep his phone with us so he can contact you. With your detailed information and experimental data, we can begin our research as well.]
[Sakura (Shinichi Kudo): Okay, then please tell Mr. Furuya that I hope he can teach my naive and clueless self from ten years ago a good lesson.]
[Sakura (Shinichi Kudo): Of course, if possible, I still hope that you can let me know the truth as soon as possible and let me join your plan, within the limits allowed by the world's consciousness. Even indirect guidance is fine; I really don't want to do nothing or even make things worse, please QAQ]
There was a pause on the other end, and then the contact name was changed to someone else.
Matsuda Jinpei began to mock him mercilessly, saying that he was 27 years old and still acting like a child, and that he had been a child for too long and couldn't go back to that.
Shinichi Kudo breathed his last, yet he felt a sense of dazed longing and nostalgia.
Ten years ago, 29-year-old Matsuda Jinpei was still very lively and arrogant, every word he uttered was effortlessly provocative and irritating, he was just short of taking advantage of people's kindness and going all out.
He is different from the 39-year-old Matsuda Jinpei of today.
Even though he looked perfectly normal, Matsuda Jinpei was still shrouded in an invisible dark cloud, making the air around him feel cold and heavy.
The others were similar, except that Matsuda Jinpei was particularly unwilling to hide his emotions.
Everyone who knows the whole truth is the same.
They all have an obsession with accomplishing something, something that hangs over them like a dark cloud.
The sun couldn't dispel them, and the sunlight couldn't warm them; they could only try their best to break through the clouds themselves.
The door was opened again.
Kazami Yuya and Vermouth walked in.
Vermouth and Shiho Miyano disliked each other so much that they didn't even want to talk.
Vermouth came only to save Rei Furuya's plan. She first read through the research report, then picked up her phone and started chatting with someone from ten years ago.
The opposing team has changed again; this time it's Kenji Hagiwara from ten years ago.
Kazami Yuya followed behind, wanting to speak to Mr. Furuya from ten years ago, but when he learned that Mr. Furuya wasn't with his phone, he gave up on the idea for the time being.
Given Kazami Yuya's current position, there's no need for him to supervise Vermouth, but this matter is special, so he has to come personally.
And he really wanted to talk to Mr. Furuya again; he had so much to say…
Shinichi Kudo nudged him: "Kazami-san."
Kazami Yuya turned his head: "?"
Shinichi Kudo: "Has Kazami-san already used cherry blossom magic?"
Kazami Yuya pushed up his glasses: "Yes, I took Sakura to see Mr. Furuya the day before yesterday after I learned that the plan had succeeded."
In fact, there were too many people at the time, so he didn't have time to talk to Mr. Furuya. Overwhelmed with emotion and feeling wronged, he ran to Mr. Furuya's tombstone in the middle of the night and cried bitterly.
Shinichi Kudo: "..."
Shiho Miyano crossed her arms as if deliberately trying to annoy him, and said, "Now, it seems like only our busy detective Shinichi Kudo is left."
Rei Furuya's mother was with them at the time, and they happened to run into the Morofushi family when they left.
So she had already been to almost everyone she knew, except for Shinichi Kudo, who was temporarily summoned to handle the case yesterday.
Shinichi Kudo: "..."
Shinichi Kudo stormed off in a huff.
But when he stood outside the door, he couldn't help but laugh.
Finally, they saw hope.
It's been ten years. These past few days have been the happiest for everyone. It's been a long time since I've seen everyone so relaxed.
Their lives are truly wonderful now. The organization has been destroyed, the world is at peace and prosperous, and even their deceased family members have been resurrected. It's as blissful as a fairy tale.
But that one person was missing.
The person who created all of this.
Therefore, this story is incomplete without Rei Furuya.
This could even be considered a tragedy, a bad ending where "everyone except Rei Furuya has a happy ending".
Rei Furuya saved everyone, but he couldn't save himself.
No one can accept this ending.
So now it's everyone's turn to save him.
They had agreed to work together to create a happy ending where everyone survived.
This ending naturally includes a happy ending for Rei Furuya.
*
Shinichi Kudo originally planned to simply catch a cherry blossom under the cherry tree before it fell to the ground, just like every year. However, Sonoko Suzuki insisted that the more cherry blossoms there were, the stronger the magic would be. She broke off three lush pink and white branches from her garden, the branches covered with soft and beautiful five-petaled cherry blossoms.
Moreover, in order to ensure the successful execution of the cherry blossom magic, Shinichi Kudo had no choice but to climb up the cherry blossom tree, break off the cherry blossom branches chosen by Sonoko Suzuki and Ran Mouri, and then carefully toss them into their arms—this was considered catching the cherry blossom magic before the cherry blossoms fell to the ground.
When Shinichi Kudo entered the cemetery carrying such a large cluster of cherry blossoms, the gravedigger gave him a surprised look.
After all, he remembered more clearly than anything else over the past ten years that a group of people would bring cherry blossoms to that tombstone in March and April, and he even knew about their cherry blossom magic.
In fact, Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki learned about the cherry blossom magic from the gravedigger. Kogoro Mouri discovered it while chatting with the gravedigger on December 25th of last year, the anniversary of Rei Furuya's death.
So Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki agreed that they would definitely participate in the cherry blossom magic this spring.
Rei Furuya's grave is on a small hillside overlooking the sea.
According to Rei Furuya's own joking statement, he wanted his ashes scattered in the sea after his death.
But in the end, he didn't even leave behind a body; only some clothes and a commonly used gun were buried in the cemetery.
Shinichi Kudo, Ran Mouri, and Sonoko Suzuki climbed up a small hill and were surprised to see a familiar man under a tree.
It's Shuichi Akai.
He was still wearing a black knitted hat, his hands in his pockets, leaning against the tree trunk, his green eyes quietly watching something in the distance.
That's the direction of Furuya Rei's grave.
Shinichi Kudo stepped forward and greeted him: "Mr. Akai, why aren't you going over there? Are you waiting for someone?"
Shuichi Akai looked away, nodded to the three of them as a greeting, and then replied, "Waiting for them to leave."
All three of them were taken aback and stood at his angle to look in that direction.
Morofushi Kagemitsu, Matsuda Jinpei, Hagiwara Kenji, and Date Wataru sat directly in front of Furuya Rei's grave. They didn't do anything, just poked at the cherry blossoms in front of the grave and talked.
Of course, they can't hear it here, and I don't want to bother them.
The four watched quietly for a while, then saw Matsuda Jinpei, Hagiwara Kenji, and Date Wataru get up, pat Morofushi Kagemitsu on the shoulder, and turn to leave in another direction.
The road was right below them, separated by a few trees; if you got closer, you could hear them talking.
“Every time I come here, I think of the time we dressed up in women’s clothes to attend Zero’s funeral,” Matsuda Jinpei said.
"Stop talking. Those deliberately infuriating outfits are truly appalling. They scared everyone else into thinking we'd gone mad. If Furuya actually saw them with his own eyes, he'd be furious enough to come back to life," Date Wataru laughed.
"I think Furuya would feel both ashamed and amused, and would probably want to take pictures to preserve our embarrassing history," Kenji Hagiwara laughed.
The voices of the three gradually faded into the distance, but melodious bass music drifted from Rei Furuya's grave.
The four of them were taken aback and turned to look.
The one left behind, Morofushi Kagemitsu, actually took out a white bass guitar, sat cross-legged on the ground, and gently played and sang a familiar song.
It's "My Hometown".
"Woof woof woof!" Harlow suddenly barked a few times.
The little white dog was also beside him, circling around Morofushi Kagemitsu and the tombstone a few times to the music, and finally lay down in front of the tombstone without moving, only its fluffy tail swaying gently to the music from the white bass, occasionally barking in response.
It was already dusk, and the golden-red sunset had dyed the vast sea red, making it sparkle with dazzling light.
From their angle, all they could see was Morofushi Kagemitsu's profile with his head slightly lowered.
The light also touched Morofushi Kagemitsu's body, staining his lowered blue eyes red, his stubble-covered white chin red, and his long, flowing black hair red.
Shinichi Kudo's gaze lingered on his long hair for a moment.
Since Furuya Rei's death, Morofushi Kagemitsu has never cut his hair again.
He said he would cut it after Zero came back.
But after ten years, his hair has grown very, very long.
Shinichi Kudo sighed inwardly, feeling sad again.
I hope Mr. Furuya can come back soon, and I hope Mr. Morofushi can successfully cut his hair this time.
He plucked a cherry blossom, held it, and silently made a wish.
As the song ended, Morofushi Kagemitsu put the bass back into its case, then took out a hair tie and casually tied his loose black hair low behind him.
He straightened his long hair as if he had cleaned up his depressed and decadent self, then straightened his back, regained his composure, and neatly slung his bass bag over his shoulder.
Morofushi Kagemitsu stood there for a while, then bent down and reached out to touch the name on the tombstone, said something, and finally turned around to leave with Haro.
I tugged at it, but it didn't budge.
Harrow refused to leave.
Morofushi Kagemitsu was silent for a moment, then bent down, picked it up, and left the place step by step amidst the puppy's whimpers.
Shuichi Akai then moved.
He took his hands out of his black coat, one hand unconsciously holding a cigarette and rubbing it, then realizing something two seconds later he put the cigarette away, while the other hand remained clenched into a fist.
Shinichi Kudo, Ran Mouri, and Sonoko Suzuki exchanged glances, hesitating whether to follow along.
Shuichi Akai, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, immediately said, "If you want to come, then come along. I don't have much to say to him, and he might even get disliked if I stay too long."
Shinichi Kudo chuckled twice, unsure how to respond.
For a long time, he had been troubled by the relationship between Rei Furuya and Shuichi Akai.
Of course, it was usually Rei Furuya who unilaterally disliked and targeted Shuichi Akai, and at that time neither he nor Shuichi Akai understood why.
So now that Rei Furuya has died, Shuichi Akai, who knows everything, will stand in front of Rei Furuya's grave for a while, but usually doesn't say much.
The same thing happened this time.
Shuichi Akai stood silently for a while in front of the grave covered with cherry blossoms, then raised the fist that had been clenched all along.
He spread his fingers, and a perfect cherry blossom appeared in his palm.
The man held the pink cherry blossom in his calloused fingers and gently placed it on the tombstone.
Then, he turned and left.
Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki stepped forward and carefully arranged the cherry blossoms they were holding in front of the grave.
Shinichi Kudo snapped out of his daze and loosened his grip on the flower branch, only to realize that he had left red marks and even a little pain from holding it too tightly.
27-year-old Shinichi Kudo walked to the grave with the cherry blossom in his hand.
[The Tomb of Fang Gu Ling]
He placed cherry blossoms in front of the grave.
“Mr. Furuya, wake up, it’s time to wake up. Everyone is waiting for you to come back,” he said.
The wind at the seaside is always strong. Some cherry blossoms in front of the grave were blown by the wind, flying past the words on the tombstone, past them, and into the boundless sea and sky.
Shinichi Kudo looked at the cherry blossoms and made a wish in his heart:
Oh, cherry blossoms! I hope we can find the timeline where Mr. Furuya lived this time and successfully rescue him.
Cherry blossoms, oh cherry blossoms, we really want to see him, please grant our wish.
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