With Kazawa backing him up, Conan's reasoning skills operated at full capacity, and he quickly pinpointed the correct train car.
"Vodka said at the start, 'Finally, I can smoke.' That means they must've gone upstairs to a no-smoking car, or maybe their contact doesn't like the smell of smoke…" Conan muttered while scanning the fire escape route map on the wall, checking each car one by one. "Then it has to be Car No. 7!"
Kazawa leaned in to check the symbols on the map, nodded, then casually yanked off his coat and threw it over Conan's head.
Conan's vision went black. He sighed and wrestled with the oversized black jacket. "If you want to disguise yourself, just tell me to step out—no need to do this every time… huh?"
Finally managing to peek out from under the coat, Conan looked up—and saw a very familiar face.
"Hey, hey, hey! Pick someone else to disguise as!" Conan stood up warily and blocked Joker from heading out. "Kazawa can't show up outside Tokyo right now, don't drag him into this."
Of all people to disguise as… why Kazawa? If Kazawa could be here himself, Conan wouldn't even need to help in the first place.
Especially since this time their target was the Organization—dragging Kazawa into this would be asking for trouble.
But the one who had merely peeled off an onion-skin disguise—was Kazawa himself: "…"
Kazawa wouldn't carelessly leave traces behind. Right now, Xingchuan Hui was attending classes at Teitan High, wearing his "Kazawa Akira" disguise like a good student.
Once Joker appeared, the Organization would naturally assume it was all Joker's doing. No one would suspect the hardworking, loyal student Kumeru.
So rather than bother with disguise, Kazawa just wiped the makeup off and revealed his real face.
He hadn't expected his neighbor to be such a shining example of conscience—actually worrying about implicating the real Kazawa. It made even Kazawa, who was wrapping himself in layers of onion skins, feel a little guilty.
Doing a quick mental tally, Kazawa figured all his current disguises—aside from Kumeru—had already been shown in front of Conan. None were at risk of being exposed yet.
…Poor Conan. He's completely surrounded by just me.
Thinking that, Kazawa sighed and glanced with pity at Conan, who was still obliviously trying to protect his friend. He decided to grant the kid's wish and raised both hands in surrender: "Alright, alright, I'll change it. You go wait outside."
Conan breathed a sigh of relief and exited the compartment.
"So loyal, huh…" Kazawa chuckled. His mood was unusually light.
Come to think of it, ever since he moved into the café, he really had received genuine care and concern from a lot of people… How lucky.
After his moment of reflection, Kazawa pulled out his makeup kit from his item inventory and scratched his head in front of the mirror: "Now then… who should I disguise as?"
He couldn't use "Kazawa Akira," and "Goro Akechi" would be even more out of place—technically, he wasn't even supposed to know about that identity…
Using Shinichi Kudo's face again wasn't great either—he might run into Ran, and she was wandering around this train right now.
Who else's face was he familiar with…? Oh, right!
Kazawa raised an eyebrow with a mischievous grin and began working quickly on his face.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." A deep, magnetic male voice came with the sound of the sliding door opening. Conan turned his head curiously—and saw Joker walk out.
…Huh, it was a face he didn't recognize.
Kazawa tugged down the knit cap on his head, straightened the guitar case on his back, and smiled at Conan: "Let's go. Car No. 7."
Black hair, green eyes, a mature face—he looked around twenty-eight or twenty-nine… Just how tall were those insoles? He seemed to have shot up several centimeters.
"Is this based on someone real?" Conan eyed him cautiously. Whether it was Joker's acting or just the natural menace of this look, Conan had a bad feeling—this guy seemed dangerous.
"Of course it's based on someone real." Kazawa tossed his long black hair with a flourish and gave a mischievous squinting smile that didn't match the sharp looks. "With this face, the Organization won't pay any attention to a kid like you… Let's go."
They wouldn't just ignore him. If Gin or Tooru Amuro heard he was around, they'd probably grab their guns and come gunning for him.
[Sorry, Shuuichi, I'm borrowing your face for a bit.]
Right before stepping out of the train compartment, Kazawa respectfully sent a requisition message to Shuuichi Akai—location unknown.
A few seconds later, whether he'd returned to the U.S. or not, Shuuichi Akai quickly replied:
[I don't mind, but using my face is dangerous…]
[Totally get it, Shuuichi! You're too charming, and people chasing after you just don't stop. Completely understandable!]
[Sigh… be careful. Don't get too reckless.]
Clearly, Shuuichi didn't know what to do with this cousin of his. He didn't argue, just reminded Kazawa to be careful before going quiet.
He'd gotten consent—that made it all fine!
Pulling up the black jacket, hands in his pockets, Kazawa led Conan into the next train car with long strides.
As the Red Side's top-tier face card, Shuuichi Akai had the same aura as Gin from the Black Side. With a cold, expressionless face, Kazawa walked into the car like a stone-cold hitman. The atmosphere shifted instantly—every passenger tensed up.
An office worker typing on his laptop instinctively snapped it shut and stared at Kazawa, completely ignoring the small boy beside him, who barely reached the armrest.
"Excuse me, sir… who are you?" he asked nervously.
Kazawa didn't answer. Just continued his silent act, scanning the car with a chilling gaze. Passengers froze in place, too nervous to move, all watching his next move warily.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Conan darted through the aisle with quick little steps, scanning the passengers. In no time, he spotted four people carrying black briefcases.
Damn… earlier they were too far from Gin's location.
Just looking at them wasn't enough—he couldn't tell which one held the right case…
Conan bit his fingernail and walked back to Kazawa. Looking up at the now much taller man, he poked his leg to ask what they should do.
Kazawa got the message and adjusted his hat—while doing so, he quickly used his "Third Eye" to scan the entire car.
There. A woman sitting mid-car had a case beside her glowing bright red with danger.
That's the one.
When Kazawa lowered his hand, his eyes had returned to normal. He felt zero guilt about cheating like this.
To him, cheating wasn't cheating—it was just efficient.
If he had been wearing his "Kazawa Akira" skin, he might have gone up and tried negotiating… but right now, he was playing the role of criminal-looking Shuuichi Akai. That meant he could be… flexible.
After all, the real guy wasn't even in Japan. So what if his reputation took a hit? Shouldn't have looked so intimidating!
In Conan's stunned gaze, Kazawa casually pulled a silenced pistol from his guitar case. As passengers let out stifled screams, he aimed the weapon directly at his target.
"Young lady," Kazawa said in a low, sinister tone as he stepped toward the woman in a pencil skirt, "What did that silver-haired man give you? I'm very curious. Would you kindly hand it over?"