Kunio Yashima immediately found a car and entered the city.
He had already heard the details from the police.
His accomplices were much more powerful than he had imagined—
They had actually forced the police to release him using that method.
Although he was excited, Kunio Yashima knew the truth: they were mainly after the jewels he had hidden.
Otherwise, they would never have taken such a huge risk to break him out.
After entering the city by taxi, Kunio Yashima looked around frequently.
He knew the police were definitely tailing him—
And it would be nearly impossible to shake them off in just one hour.
Fortunately, he had already considered this scenario when he first stole the jewels and had long prepared a retreat plan.
But until then...
Kunio Yashima passed by a public telephone booth—
Just as a man was walking out of it.
Without hesitation, he stepped inside.
Inside the booth were a sheet of paper and a pen left behind by the previous man, along with a windproof lighter.
Kunio Yashima stared at the items for a moment.
Then, inexplicably, he began to write down the names of his accomplices in the spaces marked on the paper.
After that, he picked up the lighter and started heating the paper.
The paper, coated with fire-retardant paint, didn't catch fire immediately—
But under the high heat, black lettering slowly emerged on the blank sheet.
Kunio Yashima didn't care. He continued heating it until it burned completely to ash.
After making several phone calls, he stepped out of the booth, and the ash was carried off by the wind.
Just across from the phone booth, atop a tall building...
A slender figure holding a sniper rifle had been watching Kunio Yashima through the scope.
Seeing that he didn't behave suspiciously, she slowly lowered her weapon.
At that same moment, the hijacked bus was heading toward Takaido, traveling at about 50 km/h.
Hayashi Yoshiki glanced down at his watch.
Three seconds left until 16:04.
Three.
Two.
One—
"Oof—!"
One of the robbers, walking down the aisle, suddenly stumbled and fell clumsily to the floor.
The unexpected movement startled his companion, who instantly raised his gun and scanned the passengers, alarmed.
"What happened?!"
"Relax! I just tripped!"
"Tch, be more careful... you scared me."
The robbers exchanged a few annoyed words, then returned to their positions.
It seemed like a trivial incident—
But Hayashi Yoshiki knew otherwise.
It was the signal.
It meant the plan had succeeded.
It was now completely safe.
The Death Note could manipulate the actions of anyone whose name was written in it—
Even down to what they said.
[Kunio Yashima]
[Cause of Death: Suffocation]
On the afternoon of December 17, after being released by police, he took a taxi to the Ueno Bookstore in 8-chome, Kōki-ku, Yūka-chō, and got off. At 15:57:32, he entered the public telephone booth immediately after a man in sunglasses exited the store.
Inside, after noticing the white paper, pen, and lighter left behind, he wrote down the names of the accomplices who had helped him rob the jewelry store and break out of prison.
He filled in the names of the male accomplices in the first two spaces and the female accomplice in the last.
After a 10-second pause, he used the lighter to evenly heat the entire sheet until all the handwriting was visible. He then burned the paper to ash.
After making a few phone calls and confirming the paper was beyond recovery, he left the booth and proceeded with his original plan.
[Time of Death: January 13 — Cause: Suffocation]
[Kazuma Fumimura]
[Cause of Death: Fall]
On December 17 at 15:55, he placed the paper, pen, and lighter inside the phone booth in front of the Ueno Bookstore, then left at 15:57:28.
On December 23 at 01:47 AM, while drunk, he climbed a tall building on a whim and accidentally fell to his death.
Recalling what he had written, Hayashi Yoshiki's face remained calm.
He waited in silence.
At that moment, the mood on the bus was tense.
All the passengers sat in nervous silence.
Then, the robbers made a new move.
They carefully picked up the ski bags they had brought onboard—
One of them carried them to the rear of the bus and laid them out in the aisle.
Vermouth's eyes narrowed instantly.
She recognized it immediately.
Bombs.
The positioning of the bags was too deliberate.
The robbers planned to blow up the bus—passengers and all—once their goal was achieved.
Conan also realized it.
Unable to believe it, he leaped off the seat using his small size and crept closer to investigate.
But—
His action was noticed by the gum-chewing woman in the back row.
With a subtle glance, she silently alerted the robber at the front.
He turned around.
"You again, brat?!"
His fury ignited.
He removed the safety on his gun and stormed toward Conan.
"Since you're so eager to die, I'll send you to hell now!"
After all, they planned to detonate the bomb anyway—
Killing a child meant nothing to him.
The muzzle of the gun pointed directly at Conan.
The air in the bus turned to ice.
Ayumi and the others were about to scream.
Judy's face turned grim.
Even Vermouth tensed up. She was about to act—
But someone got there first.
A hand yanked Conan backward.
"That's enough!"
Hayashi Yoshiki stepped in front of Conan, shielding him with his body.
He glared at the robber.
"We've cooperated with you all this time. He's just a naughty kid! There's no need for this!"
The robber sneered.
"Oh yeah? If you're so brave, I'll shoot you instead."
He pointed the gun at Yoshiki's head.
"Brother Yoshiki!"
"No!"
The children nearly jumped from their seats.
Even Haibara Ai, who had been trembling until now, momentarily forgot her fear.
Her eyes widened in horror.
She instinctively reached out toward him.
But Hayashi Yoshiki didn't flinch.
He looked the robber dead in the eyes.
His voice was firm, unwavering:
"If you want to kill me, fine. But let the kid go."
Conan, protected behind him, was stunned.
He stared at Hayashi Yoshiki's tense but steady back.
His fists clenched.
Vermouth couldn't stay silent.
She stood up.
"That's enough. Your demands have been met. There's no reason to complicate things now. If anything happens to the passengers, it'll ruin your plan."
The robber hesitated.
Just then, his companion stepped forward.
"Let it go. If your gun goes off by mistake, we'll be in trouble."
With a grunt, the gunman backed off.
"You'd better not be up to anything."
He returned to the front.
Hayashi Yoshiki gave Conan a gentle pat on the head and sat back down.
He glanced once more at his watch.
Almost time.