The weather had completely cleared up. There were no puddles or moisture on the road, and there were no dewdrops on the blossoming cherry trees along the roadside. It was hard to tell that it had rained not long ago.

There is no rainbow in the sky.

Kudo stood in front of the window of his room, looking expressionlessly at the beautiful cherry blossom trees outside the window that looked like something out of a dream. He reached out and caught a petal that was swaying towards him in the wind.

The pink petals made his hands, which were as white as a dead person, smell like a living person. To use an inappropriate metaphor, they were "delicate and tender."

The boy twisted the petals with his fingertips. They were soft, fleshy, and smooth. His fingernails left a crescent-shaped mark on them, which was much deeper than the other spots.

It was beautiful, but he really had no idea how these people managed to build such a big cherry tree.

The black-haired boy thought this as if it was none of his business, but he couldn't help but raise his eyes to carefully examine the cherry tree, from top to bottom, and from bottom to top, as if he liked it very much.

A girl with long black hair downstairs waved at him energetically and asked with a smile, "Good morning, Xinyi, do you want to go for a walk?"

The boy stopped looking at the cherry tree, then leaned slightly against the window, looked down at her calmly, and pursed his lips to refuse.

They don't want to have any contact with this girl named "Mauri Ran", so no matter how much she looks like an angel who comes to save him, he can't get close to her.

Don't touch things you shouldn't touch.

After more than ten years in the organization, Kudo has implemented this principle fairly well.

Seeing the boy shaking his head in silent refusal, Mao Lilan almost subconsciously looked at Conan standing not far away and said, "Shinichi, he doesn't seem to like me at all... Did I offend him at some point?"

Conan was a little confused, shook his head hesitantly and said, "Probably... no."

Xiaolan confessed to him since the last birthday party.

Conan looked at the girl's face with a wry smile, and listened to the words she expressed in her heart. He felt helpless and a little guilty.

It was true that he did it for Xiaolan's own good, but he forgot to ask Xiaolan's opinion and so domineeringly and unreasonably cut off Xiaolan's right to know the truth.

Until Mao Lilan told him: "We can share the responsibility. It's too much for one person to handle the problem alone." He still retorted that the organization was dangerous and Mao Lilan could not deal with it at all.

But the girl's expression was very calm at that time. Her blue eyes filled with tears seemed to be filled with a layer of sadness that was too heavy to dissolve. The words she spoke were very light, as light as a feather that disappeared without a trace in the wind. "What about you, Shinichi? You are just a high school student."

Just when Kudo Shinichi was about to refute, Mouri Ran looked at him. Her words were as light as a feather, but they hit his heart as heavily as a thousand-ton hammer.

At that time, the girl said:

"Shinichi, you are not alone. You have your uncle and aunt behind you, and... me. We will worry about your safety. Those who are left behind are the most pitiful. Shinichi, I don't want to live in endless worry about you every day."

"At least... let me be with you..."

The girl's slightly painful murmur in a trance seemed to still be in his ears, and Kudo Shinichi suddenly realized at that moment that he seemed too arrogant.

Arrogant enough to think... that he can protect everyone.

He was finally convinced and told Mao Lilan most of the truth.

There are some things that he really cannot tell, and when it comes to the secrets of other organizations, he can only keep silent.

In short, this is what happened.

After the birthday party, they gradually discovered that Kudo's memory and emotions were confused to a certain extent. When they wanted to get to know him better, Kudo refused to speak and even locked himself in the room. The situation suddenly came to a dead end.

But thinking that there is always a way out, the elementary school detective asked Mao Lilan to give it a try. As a result, although Kudo showed up, he did not accept any invitation from Mao Lilan, and even until now he has not spoken a word to Mao Lilan.

Why on earth?!

Conan was puzzled and thought of baldness.

At this time, the sun seemed to be blocked by someone, casting a shadow where Conan was.

"Hasn't succeeded yet?" Subaru Okiya stood behind Conan with a standard smile on his face, holding a shopping bag, looking like he had just returned from shopping.

The elementary school student detective breathed a sigh of relief and at the same time sighed, "No..."

Forget talking to that guy, he hasn't even entered the door yet.

Mom and Dad are busy again. They said they won't be back for a few days. Everyone else is busy too.

All in all, he was the only one left trying to conquer the other side.

But apparently, he has made zero progress so far.

Subaru Okiya seemed to think about it, and said, "Why don't you let me try?"

There was a gentle smile in the man's dark green pupils, and he looked like a kind-hearted person who was willing to help others. Although it was a little inconsistent with Conan's impression of this FBI, Conan still believed in this FBI after all.

After all, how can someone who likes Sherlock Holmes be a bad person?

Conan thought so confidently, and nodded, "Thank you."

Subaru Okiya nodded, put the shopping bag in his hand against the wall and said, "No trouble... Then I will start."

After giving advance notice, he walked into Kudo's house and stood in front of Kudo's room.

The door to the room was obviously locked.

But an ordinary lock could not defeat the omnipotent FBI. Subaru Okiya took out a piece of wire from somewhere, twisted it, and inserted it into the keyhole, quickly opening the door.

Conan, who was late for the sex party, was at a loss for a moment.

The FBI...should they have such skills?

The door was closed when Conan was in a trance, and he couldn't open it again. He could only lie on the door in an awkward position and try to eavesdrop.

The pink-haired man went in. The boy turned his gaze from the beautiful cherry trees outside and looked at him. His eyes became strange and cold.

But after a piece of cherry blossoms was carried by the wind and circled around him, the boy reached out and held the fallen delicate petal. His sea-blue pupils moved, from staring at him to staring at the petals, and occasionally turned his head to look at him.

The dislike is extremely obvious.

After a while, he squeezed the cherry blossom petals uncontrollably, and then turned his head to look at Subaru Okiya. This time, there was more than just strangeness in his eyes - it should be said that other emotions replaced the strangeness.

Those eyes seemed to be filled with hatred, but also seemed to contain something else. In short, it was not a good emotion.

After all, the boy made no secret of his dislike for him.

Neither of them spoke a word, and the cherry blossoms were blown away by the wind, landing in the house, in the yard, and on the road.

Gazing at the cherry blossom petals flying everywhere, the young man finally spoke first while standing among the falling petals.

Kudo's palms holding the flower petals spread out in the wind, and the pink petals flew up in the wind, soon reaching farther, leaving him far behind - never to look back.

He withdrew his hand, subconsciously touched the lip hole on his lips with his fingertips, and opened his mouth with a very abrupt words.

"You probably don't know...it was you who chose my lip piercing." Kudo turned around and looked at him, his sea-blue eyes calm, as if he didn't realize that there was something wrong with what he said.

Akai Shuichi, who was holding Okiya Subaru's shell:...

You make him look perverted.

Shuichi Akai dared to swear to God that he had never done such an intimate thing to anyone since he was a child - not even to Mingmei.

You know, lip piercings are worn on the mouth. I guess everyone knows how intimate this thing is.

How could he possibly buy accessories for his junior, who was much younger than him? The key point was that this junior was a boy.

And it was... a lip stud? Was he abnormal?

Shuichi Akai fell into self-doubt.

But the black-haired boy didn't seem to notice the pink-haired man's trance, or rather, he was unable to notice it - he seemed to be completely immersed in his own thoughts and unable to establish a strong connection with the outside world.

After a while, the boy looked at him and continued, "As..."

“A new symbol of belonging.”

Of course, since he is the only successful experiment in the organization, he cannot have only one "owner".

So he has four sets of different lip piercings - one each from Bermode, Rye, rum and Scottish whisky.

As for that gentleman... he needs no symbols.

Akai Shuichi's eyes darkened, and his dark green pupils suddenly became dark as if there was a monster about to escape lurking inside. He pondered over this word in his heart.

Ownership?

But the point is, that lip ring doesn’t look like his style, right?

Akai Shuichi took two steps closer, "What... do you mean?"

The black-haired boy raised his eyes and looked at him calmly. His demeanor and expression now looked more like that of another person... or rather, another period.

"Literally, Lei." He raised his hand and touched the corner of his lips, and suddenly smiled faintly. "Your aesthetics is still as poor as ever."

He looked at Akai Shuichi's current disguise thoughtfully.

Akai Shuichi took two steps closer again, a gentle smile on his face, his eyes clear, as if he didn't know what he was talking about.

"It looks like you're very hostile towards me... why?" The pink-haired man now looked distressed, and the emotion in his clear dark green eyes seemed to be simply sadness for Kudo's hostility.

He could see that the boy was in a very confused period at the moment - this also caused him to be unable to hide his emotions as usual. In other words, no matter what period the boy was in now, he could not perfectly hide what he wanted to hide.

This is a good time for Shuichi Akai to gather intelligence.

Of course, this is also a good time to find out what is bothering the young man and finally find the right remedy.

The black-haired boy looked at him and sneered.

The reason why it seemed so was because the young man only uttered a "hum" sound.

"Why am I like this? Shouldn't you have some idea in your mind?"

"If I did these things, I think I would have some impression of them." Akai Shuichi frowned in distress and spread his hands to show innocence, "But the problem is... I didn't do these things."

The boy answered almost without thinking, "If not you, who else could it be?"

"If it weren't for you... Shiho wouldn't have died--!" When the boy said this, his eyes were unfocused and he looked in an extremely unstable state.

Because he quickly refuted himself, "No...it's not like that...it's because of me...it's because of me!"

The smile on Shuichi Akai's face faded. Even though the boy was in an extremely unstable state, his words were not unbelievable - in fact, what he said at this moment was more credible than usual.