Chapter 121
Although Japanese people had always been indifferent—as long as it didn't affect them, they could pretend not to see even if someone died in front of them—Usuha Izuki carried such a conspicuous "Black Screen Aura" and went against the direction of public attention. No matter how righteous his posture appeared, in others' eyes it still added a sinister filter.
This appearance of killing someone and then acting nonchalant, seemingly completely unconcerned, leaving in a carefree manner... Could this be the legendary assassin?!
So Usuha Izuki had only just closed his eyes to rest in the car for a few minutes when someone knocked on the car window.
Usuha Izuki looked up and saw it was Matsuda Jinpei, signaling him to roll down the window.
"......?"
Usuha Izuki confusedly rolled down the window, only then noticing there was a stranger beside Matsuda Jinpei. He gave Matsuda Jinpei a look, indicating he should explain, but Matsuda Jinpei didn't look at him and instead said to the stranger:
"Are you sure you're talking about him?"
The stranger nodded repeatedly: "Yes! I saw him leaving the murder scene! His hands were in his pockets—the murder weapon might be hidden there!"
Usuha Izuki: "............"
Being suspected as a murderer, Usuha Izuki was quite used to it. He should have been happily welcoming this windfall package of suspicion values, but hearing that last sentence made him a bit unsettled.
Come on, it was the middle of winter—who was he bothering by putting his hands in his pockets?! When this person was theorizing conspiracies, didn't he look at where his own hands were?!
Matsuda Jinpei gave Usuha Izuki a mocking look, then said to the person: "Alright, I understand. He's not the murderer—you're mistaken."
The person looked at Matsuda Jinpei with disbelief: "Officer, you don't even ask his name or check his ID, yet you're certain he's not the murderer?"
"Because I know him. He's..."
Halfway through his words, Matsuda Jinpei suddenly realized something. His instinct told him he couldn't continue, but it was too late.
The person who had hurriedly found him, firmly claiming he might have found the murderer and even knew where the murderer was hiding, insisting on bringing him over together, only to encounter Samukawa Shinryu—this person suddenly stepped back, his gaze shifting uncertainly between him and the "suspect."
"......You know each other?"
"......He's also a police officer."
The other's expression became colorfully interesting at that moment. Just when Matsuda Jinpei thought this person would also rant like some criminals Samukawa Shinryu had caught before about Japan being hopeless and having too many corrupt cops, he saw the person's expression change and suddenly become reasonable:
"I see, he's a police officer. Then it's fine. I still have to catch a flight, so I'll go first. Goodbye."
After saying this, the person turned and ran away without looking back.
This face-changing performance fully demonstrated that regardless of whether the other believed Samukawa Shinryu was truly a righteous police officer, he had already backed down.
The world might lose one person willing to provide information to the police from now on.
Hagiwara Chihaya, who had witnessed the entire process: "......"
Matsuda Jinpei said in a tone of seeing through worldly affairs: "Now you know why we don't bring Samukawa when solving cases, right?"
Hagiwara Chihaya's expression was very subtle: "I understand now."
—She had originally thought it was just to avoid scaring passersby, but now it seemed the bigger problem was potentially disrupting people's impressions of criminals...
Although Matsuda Jinpei was temporarily called away, it didn't affect the case-solving.
Even though Hagiwara Kenji had previously been with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit and then spent half a year at the Police Academy, his observation and deduction abilities remained very high.
Combined with his maxed-out emotional intelligence and affinity, he quickly deduced the truth from the clues he gathered, found evidence, caught the criminal, and handed him over to the tardy duty officers.
Calculating the time, they could even leisurely go through security without any rush.
Usuha Izuki was very satisfied.
[You see, as long as I want to, I can actually vacation peacefully. Just leave the case-solving to others.]
Usuha Izuki declared confidently: [Once we get abroad, it'll be even easier. No one will ask a Japanese police officer to solve cases—I have no such obligation. Even if Kenji and the others want to help, they might get sent back!]
The system was skeptical and a bit regretful: [If you think it'll work, then fine... But be careful about getting shot abroad. America has much higher gun ownership rates than Japan, and police shoot quite casually...]
Only then did Usuha Izuki realize this problem and fell into silence.
[...So you never considered what impact the "Black Screen Aura" might have abroad?]
[There's always a way. Besides, don't I have evasion techniques among my exchanged skills? If Mouri Ran can dodge bullets, it would be inexcusable if Samukawa Shinryu couldn't!]
Besides, they were already at the airport! It would be too wasteful to say they weren't going now!
He had died in his previous life without ever leaving the country! This time he had to try no matter what!
Hagiwara Kenji looked at Usuha Izuki puzzledly, not understanding why he suddenly seemed emotionally agitated.
Originally, Usuha Izuki had just been going with the flow, but since the system was so pessimistic about his Hawaii trip, Usuha Izuki's rebellious streak immediately surfaced. Instead of wanting to lie flat as before, he temporarily changed his mind.
[I'll lie flat once we get to Hawaii. First, let me eliminate all factors that might affect my vacation.]
System: [...?]
The system soon understood what Usuha Izuki meant.
After boarding the plane, Usuha Izuki didn't immediately sit in his assigned seat. Instead, under the confused gazes of Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei, he walked to the back, took advantage of a flight attendant coming out of the rear galley to glance inside, then walked back and sat down.
Matsuda Jinpei couldn't help asking: "What are you doing?"
"Checking if there's anything abnormal on the plane." Usuha Izuki frowned. "We got off to a bad start—I'm a bit worried."
Matsuda Jinpei: "...The probability of a plane crash is even lower than a car accident."
Usuha Izuki pondered: "The probability of Police Academy students encountering one or two cases per month on average..."
Matsuda Jinpei stopped talking.
Hagiwara Kenji thought his concern made some sense: "So did you notice anything?"
"The flight attendants I've seen so far seem normal." Usuha Izuki considered. "The possibility of inside-outside cooperation for hijacking should be smaller."
Matsuda Jinpei mentioned plane crashes, but he actually wasn't too worried about that.
In the Detective Conan world, plane crashes wouldn't happen to main plot characters—they would always escape danger in the end. Plus, he had just seen someone who absolutely couldn't die here.
Rather, hijacking could cause the pilot to take detours, delaying his itinerary with significant impact. He had to pay more attention.
He absolutely had to reach Hawaii on schedule! No one was allowed to disrupt his vacation this time!
Usuha Izuki seemingly casually observed every person who passed by his seat, his mental safety probability constantly rising.
System: [Suspicion values are also constantly rising...]
Anyone observed by Samukawa Shinryu with his "Black Screen Aura" at full power would start overthinking. Since Usuha Izuki said he would slack off once they reached Hawaii, the system was already quite satisfied to get some suspicion values now.
Every time a flight attendant passed by, they would restrain themselves from letting their gaze wander, but after leaving the passenger cabin, they couldn't help secretly discussing among themselves.
"Did you see?"
"I saw. It was him earlier, right? His seat was clearly so far forward, yet he inexplicably walked to the back for a tour..."
"Could he be..." someone made a gesture.
Another person gasped: "Don't! Don't say it! Too unlucky!"
"Um, I think we don't need to worry too much." A flight attendant said weakly. "The two people sitting next to him are police officers. When I was parking, I saw those two officers solving a case in the parking garage... That officer who smiled at us when we made eye contact is very smart—he solved the case in minutes. If the person sitting next to him really had problems, he would definitely notice!"
Someone had a realization: "True, when I passed by, I saw him talking to that person. He might have been probing for information..."
"Anyway, both we and the police are already alert. Even if something happens, the situation won't be too bad..."
Facts proved that people shouldn't jinx things.
When a passenger complained unhappily that they suddenly heard strange beeping sounds from their seat, and the flight attendants confirmed this shouldn't be possible, an ominous suspicion arose in everyone's minds.
The flight attendant who had seen the two police officers solve a case in the parking garage hesitantly passed a note to Hagiwara Kenji.
Matsuda Jinpei had been looking out the window, but noticing the flight attendant's subtle movement from his peripheral vision, he turned to tease: "Worthy of Hagi—already got a phone number?"
But Hagiwara Kenji's mind was filled with the flight attendant's fake smile followed by panic and confusion. His expression became somewhat serious as he unfolded the note: "It might not necessarily be a phone number... Ah, as expected."
"What's wrong?" Matsuda Jinpei leaned over to look, his originally casual expression also becoming serious. He immediately stood up and walked to the back, showing his police ID to the flight attendant from earlier and saying quietly: "I'm from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit. Where's the box with the strange noise you mentioned?"
The passengers originally in that area had been moved elsewhere, but the plane's space was limited. Even though this was toward the back, with so many abnormal behaviors, it still caused some small-scale panic.
When Matsuda Jinpei got up from the floor with a serious expression and nodded gravely to the flight attendants, a passenger finally couldn't help asking:
"What's going on? Is there a bomb?!"
"What? A bomb?!"
The already somewhat agitated atmosphere immediately became more chaotic.
Matsuda Jinpei had to quickly say loudly: "I'm a police officer from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit. Please return to your seats and don't panic, lest it affect the bomb disposal—this type of bomb is very simple, everyone needn't worry!"
Actually, it was still somewhat difficult—at least not the type that could be solved within ten minutes—but he had to say this to stabilize people's minds.
This had some effect. Combined with the flight attendants' broadcast explanations, passengers could barely sit calmly in their seats, though the whispered conversations grew increasingly loud.
"Who installed it? Didn't you notice when cleaning?"
"Just defusing the bomb isn't enough, right? If the criminal is still on the plane and wants to drag us all down with them..."
"Could the pilot already be dead?"
At this moment, someone suddenly stood up and asked Usuha Izuki: "Excuse me, may I ask you a question? Your seat is clearly here, but you specifically walked to the back earlier... Why was that?"
It was phrased as a question, but the underlying meaning was suspicion.
Actually, more than one person had noticed Usuha Izuki's actions when he first boarded—because everyone wanted to avoid him, it made Usuha Izuki particularly conspicuous and naturally more memorable.
But most people, even if they had suspicions, just remained silent. Only this person mustered the courage to voice his suspicions.
When someone finally spoke up, quite a few people secretly breathed sighs of relief, thanking this warrior while secretly repenting their own cowardice and silence.
The world needed such people with a sense of justice who would risk everything!
The accused youth looked indifferent, his dark blood-red eyes coldly glancing at his accuser, showing no intention of explaining.
The person's breathing immediately stopped.
If a normal person were treated as a criminal and was innocent, they would definitely defend themselves, right? Yet this person remained completely silent...
Could he be admitting it?! Had he guessed correctly after all?
Those blood-colored eyes held no emotion whatsoever, as if he didn't even care about his own life. Taking a whole plane of people to their deaths seemed entirely possible!
He must be someone who didn't want to live anymore, so he was taking revenge on society by dragging everyone to die with him!
Since the person in question had no intention of explaining, Hagiwara Kenji helplessly wanted to speak up, but was unexpectedly beaten to it.
"Um, I think this gentleman should be unrelated to this bomb."
A gentle, mellow voice spoke up: "I've been watching his movements the whole time. Though his behavior of walking back and forth was indeed strange, his hands remained in his pockets throughout without taking them out, so he lacked the conditions to install a bomb."
Pausing here, he pushed his glasses and nodded to the dark-haired, red-eyed youth who was looking his way, then asked the flight attendant:
"I've previously assisted police in solving some cases. May I be allowed to participate?"
The flight attendant clearly recognized him and said with admiration:
"Of course, Kudo Yusaku-sensei!"