Chapter 114, Chapter 113: Birthday, Antidote, Akemi Miyano...
Say goodbye to all your troubles
Say hi to all happiness
"Happy birthday, dear dear!" A clear child's voice rang out in the small apartment, accompanied by the melodious and cheerful sound of a violin and a handbell, singing joyful and pure blessings to the birthday boy.
Surrounded by people in front of the cake, Zhuge Tongzhi wore a birthday crown made of cardboard. He raised his hand and gently tapped to the rhythm of the cheerful melody. His dark eyes reflected the nineteen points of light that circled the cake, and he looked slightly dazed.
She certainly hadn't missed her birthday. Although Rag was careless in many things, she never forgot the people she cared about. Ever since she had the opportunity to manage the kitchen, Zhuge Tongzhi's birthday had never been accidentally overlooked or missed.
Similarly, Lager, who is not used to looking at the lunar calendar, always starts planning well into November each year—buying or baking a cake, going out to celebrate or celebrating at home, agonizing over preparing gifts, adjusting the timing of missions, and so on...
As the target task whose opinion is frequently sought, Zhuge Tongzhi always feels that his birthday is not just one day a year, but lasts for two months every year. The day of "Dongyue Ganqi" always approaches step by step with a strong presence in Lag's rambling.
This was the first time she had unexpectedly celebrated her birthday.
Moreover, the accompaniment for his nineteenth birthday was also quite unique... Zhuge Tongzhi couldn't help but turn his head to look at the source of the violin background music again, only to be caught red-handed by Conan, who was playing the violin with his face close to the end of the instrument.
Although I had heard that Shinichi Kudo could play the violin, I never expected to hear him perform it live. The black-haired girl wearing a crown smiled at her speechless friend, a subtle smile blooming in her eyes.
This made her curious about Conan's singing voice again; she'd never actually heard a tone-deaf person with perfect pitch sing before. Zhuge Tongzhi turned his head back to the music, clapping along with Yoshida Ayumi, who was keeping time with a handbell beside him, and softly sang:
"See the flowers of happiness bloom for you, hear the beautiful music cheer for you~"
Hey, those two. Conan, holding the violin bow, revealed his half-moon eyes. He and Ran had transcribed the sheet music for this birthday song line by line from Ragnarok's humming, but when they first received the invitation, he was politely arranged to sit in the accompaniment section.
Alright, alright, he knew he hadn't been invited to the choir. The tone-deaf man, who rarely spoke, sighed inwardly, but put on a relaxed smile as he looked at the candlelit dining table in front of him. His bow paused, and he habitually turned a long note into two short notes.
Ran Mouri, listening to the familiar piano music, looked down and her eyes met Conan's, who was looking up at the same time. The candlelight illuminated half of their faces, and the two of them blushed inexplicably, quickly looking away.
"My dearest, my dearest, happy birthday~" As Lag sang, he suddenly lifted Zhuge Tongzhi high off the ground, spun him around in circles, and laughed joyfully, "Wishing you eternal happiness—"
Zhuge Tongzhi's face darkened for a moment when he was lifted up like Simba, but when his eyes fell on Rag's smug and rather fearless smiling face, he couldn't help but chuckle.
She knew it; this guy had wanted to do this ever since they met but had never succeeded. Now she had finally succeeded... The black-haired girl felt the wind rushing past her ears and finally opened her arms wide.
But it's perfectly normal for kids to fly around!
Amidst the lively cheers of the young detectives and the violin's melody gradually drawing to a close, Zhuge Tongzhi was steadily lifted from the air and landed on the ground by Rag. The black-haired youth tidied the girl's disheveled hair, squatted down, and affectionately snuggled up to her, humming along with her:
"Happiness forever—~"
The black-haired girl clasped her hands together on the last beat, her eyes curving like crescent moons, her smile as radiant as the sun.
The gentle, drawn-out coda of the violin was swallowed up by the clattering of the children's handbells. In the small, happy room, Zhuge Tongzhi clenched his fists, interlaced his fingers, closed his eyes, and made a silent wish in his heart while facing the 19-point candlelight.
She had only one wish, a wish she had repeatedly made over the past thirteen years while facing the ever-brightening candlelight—
Please let me and her both return home safely and peacefully.
They returned to the embrace of their mother, whom they longed for day and night.
that's all!
The black-haired girl opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and blew out the ring of candles on the cake.
"Yay! Time to cut the cake!" As the oldest participant, Rag cheered enthusiastically. Surrounded by the three little ones, he waved a plastic knife and started cutting the cake.
Zhuge Tongzhi got the first piece of cake. The girl stuck a piece of fruit on top into her mouth and chewed it while reminding, "We still need to leave two pieces for Zhenping and Yan'er, and also for so-and-so and so-and-so."
The crackdown on the organization has come to a complete end, but as the organization that monopolized many illegal activities collapsed, many small gangs sprang up like mushrooms after rain.
Not to mention that Conan's own buffs are still working, and the First Investigation Division is also working overtime today. Meanwhile, the other members of the Red Team whom Zhuge Tongzhi knows are becoming increasingly busy in the later stages.
"Don't worry, I'm smart enough to have already bought two birthday cakes. The others are frozen in the freezer. You can just take them over and share them tomorrow."
Lag tilted his head toward the refrigerator, handed the freshly cut cake to the three excited children, glanced at Ai Haibara with a questioning look, and then cut a piece of cake with the most blueberries and handed it to the brown-haired girl.
"Ai-chan likes blueberries, right?" The black-haired youth gently placed the paper tray into Ai Haibara's hands, smiled at the girl who looked slightly stunned, and then turned to Conan and Ran Mouri over there, "Ran-chan and Conan-kun, would you like to come and pick some?"
"It's okay, we can all do it!" Ran Mouri, who was walking over, stopped when she passed by Ai Haibara, who was standing still. She gently patted the child on the back and pushed her towards Zhuge Tongzhi and the three little ones who were trying to spread cream on each other. "Hey, Ai-chan."
“…Hmm.” Ai Haibara snapped out of her daze, lifted her foot and walked towards the direction of the young detective. After taking a couple of steps, she turned her head slightly and glanced back at the two women who were standing around the cake, brandishing knives.
Happiness forever...? The girl with tea-colored hair picked up a blueberry and put it in her mouth. The sweet fruity aroma was mixed with the sweetness of cream, but it couldn't mask the slight tartness.
The fruit I bought in Lager was very fresh and tasted even better than blueberry jam.
Ai Haibara slowly ate the blueberries that covered the cake. Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya and Genta Kojima in front of her already had cream smeared all over their faces, and Kirito Zhuge was no exception, with two fingers of cream smeared on his cheeks.
Now the group is turning their attention to Conan, who is standing aside. The great detective, who took two steps back, was grabbed on the shoulder by Ran Mouri with a smile, and then the three little ones pounced on him and hugged his limbs.
Hey!! You guys!
After cleaning the blueberries off the cream, Ai Haibara, holding the plate, leisurely added another dollop of cream to Conan's face, whose hands and feet were restrained.
That's great.
…
Children should not stay up late, and they should not come home very late.
So after the cream fight, the three real children in the group were the first to be lured away by their parents' phone calls.
Not feeling comfortable with the three kids walking alone at night, Ran Mouri offered to take them to the Teitan Elementary School gate to wait for their parents, then come back to pick up Conan, and finally take Ai Haibara back to Professor Agasa's house.
So, with a heavy heart, Ayumi Yoshida handed the gift to Kirito, took her friend's hand, and gave her a sweet smile, "Happy birthday, Kirito-chan!"
"Yes!" Zhuge Tongzhi nodded vigorously, and two more gifts from Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya and Genta Kojima appeared in his arms. The sturdy boy gave a thumbs up and smiled, "Happy birthday!"
"Happy birthday, Zhuge." After saying his birthday wishes, the boy with the heart-shaped haircut waved his memo to his friend and said, "I've written down the birthday customs in your hometown. Maybe it'll come in handy for solving cases in the future."
"Haha, maybe so," Zhuge Tongzhi replied, sweating slightly. "But my custom is very niche, I doubt anyone else would have it."
To explain why there were nineteen candles on the birthday cake, the well-prepared Rag came up with a rather complicated formula to fool the three children. It seemed to make sense in a roundabout way, but it was actually all nonsense.
Zhuge Tongzhi smiled at Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko, thinking to himself: If we use this method to solve the mystery, we'll probably only make things worse.
After waving goodbye to Ran Mouri, who was leaving with the three little ones, Zhuge Tongzhi closed the door and turned to face a small glass bottle containing several blue and white capsules, which were swaying slightly with Ai Haibara's movements.
"The complete antidote for APTX4869," the tea-haired girl said simply, shaking the bottle to signal her to reach out and catch it.
"Huh?" Zhuge Tongzhi subconsciously raised his hand and caught the bottle of medicine that fell into his palm. "It was faster than I expected."
"With the data, we can quickly develop the antidote based on the semi-finished product. I made the initial version a week ago, but I've been adjusting its properties, which is why it's been delayed until today."
"But it's just right. Happy birthday, Zhuge."
Ai Haibara withdrew her hand and put it into her coat pocket. At the same time, she said to the two people in front of her, "Ms. Mary has already taken the medicine and is currently doing well after turning back. You can take it without worry, but you should take precautions to reduce the fever."
"It's best to fill the bathtub with cold water, and then you must be careful..." The usually taciturn tea-haired girl became talkative at this moment, describing in detail every step after taking the antidote, her meticulousness and attention to detail flowing silently between her words.
Zhuge Tongzhi knew that Noah's Ark would record everything for him, while Conan was typing out the precautions on his phone.
Only after he finished typing the last word did Ai Haibara say leisurely, "The detailed document has been sent to your email address. It's set to self-destruct after being viewed, but it should only be used once."
Conan: "..."
Conan: "Haibara, you..."
The black-haired, blue-eyed detective still had some cream on his cheeks that he hadn't cleaned off, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that he felt he had been attacked by his partner once again.
The three little ones, Zhuge Tongzhi, Ai Haibara, and even Ran didn't help him tonight!
However, before Conan, who was full of complaints, could express his opinion, Ran Mouri knocked on the door from outside.
Zhuge Tongzhi lived right next to Teitan Elementary School, so the girl returned very quickly. She peeked out the door at the three children who were turning their heads and called out, "Conan, Ai-chan, shall we go home now?"
"Hmm." Conan responded and walked towards the door, while Ai Haibara, who was a step behind, had her wrist grabbed by Zhuge Tongzhi.
Ai Haibara: ?
"Ran, I'll take Ai home later." Lage peeked out from the kitchen, waved to Ran and Conan at the door with his half-rolled-up sleeve, winked and smiled, "We have a little secret to tell each other in private. Remember to let me know you're home safely."
"Okay, I'll remember to send the message." Ran Mouri habitually took Conan's hand, but then suddenly realized and hurriedly let go. She then said to the strategist Kirito inside, "Happy birthday, Kirito-chan. We'll head home now."
Conan, standing next to the girl, blushed slightly and looked away, muttering, "Happy birthday, Zhuge. I wish you all the best."
"Bye-bye." Zhuge Tongzhi watched the awkward departure of the two, one big and one small, with a wise look in his eyes. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Lag was marveling at how he had gone from a little brat calling Xiaolan "sister" to an adult who told her to let him know she was safe when she got home.
Ai Haibara withdrew her gaze from the departing figure at the doorway, then turned to Zhuge Tongzhi and Lag, who was wiping his hands as they came out, and gave him an inquiring look, "What secret do we have?"
“It’s supposed to be a secret, but we actually only found out this morning.” Zhuge Tongzhi rubbed his nose and said, “You should know that before Rag was captured by Gin, he covered the escape of a group of training camp members. For safety, they cut off all external communication and hid on an island in Japan.”
“You should have gone there to investigate.” Lag looked at Ai Haibara, who looked puzzled, and gave her a hint: “Go with Gin and Vodka to find out the truth about the immortal mermaid.”
"Mermaid Island?" Ai Haibara quickly recalled that field mission, then shook her head and said, "There are no immortal mermaids there, just a woman with superb makeup skills."
The tea-haired girl skipped over the business trip that yielded no real results and jumped back to the current topic, following Zhuge Tongzhi's words: "They hid on Mermaid Island? But it's a small village, and if there are too many people, it's easy for the natives to notice them."
That's how it should have been, but they sent a child from the training camp to work and keep watch on the island. The child successfully saved the second-generation Longevity Granny from being burned to death during the New Year, and thus received some help from the Longevity Granny's family out of gratitude.
They had many planned hiding places, and Mermaid Island, a tourist attraction far from the big city, was just one of them.
"For some reason, we became acquainted with the longevity women there." Zhuge Tongzhi skipped over this complicated backstory and jumped straight to the result: "In short, after we contacted them, we discovered a pleasant surprise."
That was indeed a surprise. Neither she nor Rag had expected that, after news of their deaths spread, their pre-planned "kick-the-box" scheme would still succeed in many parts, and that all the people they rescued, whether they had sensitive identities or were unable to wake up for unknown reasons, would be transferred to Mermaid Island.
"Haibara, Akemi Miyano is on Mermaid Island."
Ai Haibara's icy blue eyes widened instantly, her heart pounded uncontrollably, and her breathing became erratic.
After finishing his sentence, Zhuge Tongzhi added, "He just hasn't woken up yet, but the rest..."
The black-haired girl was interrupted by Ai Haibara's sudden attack. The brown-haired girl, breathing heavily, gripped the arms of the person in front of her tightly and said in a hoarse voice, "Sister, my sister..."
“She’s still alive, Shiho Miyano.” Lager walked over and gently but firmly grasped Ai Haibara’s wrist, saying to the girl with reddened eyes, “Akami Miyano is still alive. She was shot when she faked her death, so she has been recuperating on the island while she was in a coma.”
"Look, this is her recent photo." The black-haired youth showed a video on his phone. In the video, a woman with long brown hair was lying pale in a bedroom. A bottle of glucose saline solution to sustain her life was hanging on her wrist, and her chest was rising and falling gently, which was reassuring.
It was the very real Akemi Miyano.
Large tears welled up in Ai Haibara's eyes. The despair and fear that had followed her sister's death could no longer be contained in her heart. The tears, which had once filled her with utter despair and death, the careful longing that she could only listen to the pre-recorded messages on the phone over and over again, and the pain that made her unwilling to face reality, dissolved into her tears and poured down her cheeks.
Thinking that she had long been deprived of her last remaining family member by the organization, Ai Haibara clenched the sleeve she was holding and burst into tears for her sister whom she had lost and found again.
Zhuge Tongzhi, who was being held tightly, took out a tissue, but when he felt his arm getting wet, he thought for a moment and put the tissue back in his pocket.
She turned her head, not staring directly at her friend who had never cried like this before, and looked at the bright moonlight outside the balcony, saying, "I kept you here today not only to tell you this, but also to ask you about your next choice."
"Are you planning to temporarily follow Mary Akai and the others, and go through the FBI or M16 witness protection program?" Zhuge Tongzhi heard the sobbing coming from beside his arm gradually subside before turning back to continue, "Or should we help you and Akemi Miyano erase your traces in the organization and give you new identities to start a new life?"
Lager thoughtfully took out the tissue that Zhuge Tongzhi hadn't taken out and handed it to Ai Haibara, who was wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, and comforted her, "I think the name Haibara Shiho is very nice, but it's also great to be able to live with your aunt, cousin and other relatives."
Ai Haibara, struggling to control her emotions, hastily wiped her eyes with a tissue, took a deep breath, and forced herself to focus on the most important issue at hand.
"Is Mary Akai my aunt?"
Rag: ? ? ?
Zhuge Tongzhi: "..."
"It seems so." Ai Haibara clutched the tissue in her hand, her icy blue eyes, washed clean by tears, appeared even clearer, a sharp glint flashing across them. "So, Moroboshi Dai, that Shuichi Akai, is my sister's and my cousin?"
Zhuge Tongzhi paused for a moment after being asked the question, and then said hesitantly, "He didn't tell you?"
She'd been busy with missions lately and hadn't had time for these things... She looked at Rag hesitantly.
Standing to the side, Rag paused for a moment, then asked hesitantly, "Didn't Akai tell you? Didn't Mary either?"
Ai Haibara slowly shook her head.
That doesn't make sense! Aren't we sharing intelligence now?
Didn't Conan tell Shuichi Akai that Sherry's real name was Shiho Miyano? Didn't Mary Akai mention that the APTX4869 she ingested was researched by Elena Miyano? Vermouth clearly told her herself.
Wait a minute… these Akai family members, have they never even sat down for a proper chat yet? Zhuge Tongzhi thought of that family's style of mutual misunderstanding and physical altercations, and his pupils dilated in shock.
What? So, intelligence sharing between the Red Team isn't a necessary and sufficient condition for intelligence sharing between the Akai family?
-----------------------
Author's Note: Even with the necessary and sufficient condition, Morning Star still can't forget you.
Damn it, it's practically etched into our DNA.
…
If you support returning Shiho Miyano's older sister to her, please type 1!
11111111111
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Damn it, it's still not over?!
…
Mwah!
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