Haibara Ai recalled the day when she first met the boy.

When she saw the boy for the first time, she was surprised by his face which was 90% similar to Kudo Shinichi, but she was also afraid of the strange look in those familiar eyes.

At that time, he was dressed in black, with his face, neck, and hands all stained bright red. When he looked over, his eyes were filled with blood and violence rendered in the darkness, like a beast that had just finished hunting.

This look immediately set off the alarm in her mind about dangerous people.

The first alarm was sounded too quickly and too loudly, so the sound was lingering afterwards.

When they met for the second time and heard about his inexplicable feelings for her, she chose to remain silent.

The language of wild animals is the most untrustworthy. Perhaps they are just in a good mood, so they raise their claws and use their curved nails to hook the prey to play a little game before or after a meal.

So during the time this person was in the hospital with a fever, she never visited him once.

This was their third meeting, and he still maintained that inexplicable attitude. She had no way of explaining the source of this feeling.

Haibara Ai looked up at the boy's face and narrowed her eyes slightly.

…

She actually...had two guesses.

The first is that he has an agenda, and this agenda requires her as a medium to achieve.

The second guess is that this person met someone who was very similar to her when he was a child, but he will never see that person again. Maybe she is dead, or maybe she went to a place he can't find. In short, he can't find a regular meal, so he can only eat meal substitutes, that is, her.

Another way to say it is that this person treats himself as if he were someone else.

...However.

Huiyuan paused for a moment.

However, despite these two speculations, what Haibara Ai herself does not understand is that she does not favor any of these two speculations.

——She was more inclined to believe that there was a hidden third possibility.

But the problem is that she has no idea what the third possibility is.

"No need to prove it," Huiyuan Ai looked at him, her voice as calm as ever, "I believe you."

So she decided to give it a try.

The young girl's tender voice echoed in the quiet room, carrying the cold tone characteristic of its owner.

"But can you tell me what exactly you had just done when we first met?"

Huibara Ai stared at the black-haired boy, his expression was as unpredictable as ever.

The air seemed to become scorched as she spoke; even the afternoon breeze could not blow into this place.

The sunlight shines on the boy's fair skin, which is obviously a symbol of warmth, but for some reason it makes people feel cold all over.

"..." The young man pursed his lips, looking a little timid, his beautiful eyes showing a bit of tension, "...I..."

...there is a problem.

Subaru Okiya, who was listening to everything here through the eavesdropping device, narrowed his eyes and revealed a look like a predator.

Although the possibility that this young man is deliberately disguising himself cannot be ruled out, based on the information that Subaru Okiya currently has, the information he revealed in front of Haibara Ai is still worth listening to.

But whether to believe it or not...it's up to him to decide.

Subaru Okiya raised the corners of his lips and smiled, a wolf-like look of determination to win slowly emerged.

Pandora's box is slowly opening.

——

Lu Qi was silent, Lu Qi was endlessly silent.