Chapter 20: The Parting of Ways
After discussing the details of the case, Kensuke suggested a 10% intermediary fee. In other words, if the fee for the case was the specified two million yen, he would give Masayoshi two hundred thousand yen as a referral fee.
Masayoshi declined this offer, saying it was unnecessary and that he was just showing gratitude.
However, Kensuke insisted on giving it. “I detest indebtedness. It’s the most expensive thing in this world. I don’t want to be bothered by it later. Right now, with a mere two hundred thousand, I can buy a closure. Passing up this chance is pure stupidity.” he said.
Seeing his determination, Masayoshi agreed.
“Alright, Ai, let’s go,” Masayoshi said after finishing their business. He stood up from his seat and was about to call Haibara Ai.
“No, Uncle Masayoshi, I want another cup of milk tea!” Haibara Ai used a sweet, cloying tone, making a cute, childlike expression.
“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you in the car outside. Hurry up!” Masayoshi smiled and patted Haibara Ai’s head before leaving the café.
Now, only Kensuke and Haibara Ai remained at the table, sitting across from each other.
“Young lady, do you have something on your mind?” Kensuke raised an eyebrow. “You must have a reason for staying behind, right?”
Haibara Ai tilted her little head and, with an innocent childlike demeanor, looked at Kensuke with her ice-blue eyes.
“Mr. Detective, I have a question for you,” she said sweetly.
“Little one, please speak normally, thank you,” Kensuke replied, glancing at her askance.
He had nearly felt nauseous from her theatrics, which she had been putting on since earlier. However, Haibara Ai’s expression remained the same.
“Mr. Detective, how do you plan to handle the upcoming case?” She asked with blinking, innocent eyes.
Kensuke had yet to respond when suddenly, from the seat behind them, another voice chimed in.
“Haibara, there’s no need to pretend in front of this guy; he can see through it,” Conan said.
Conan’s head appeared between the plants between the two seats, and he moved around to sit next to Haibara Ai.
Kensuke squinted his eyes; this young detective was indeed eavesdropping.
“The question Haibara asked is one I also wanted to ask,” Conan said coldly. “Although I don’t expect you to provide a good answer, I still want to advise you. This case is something my uncle, Kogoro Mouri, values greatly. A murderer who’s not only a police officer but also violates the law is intolerable. If you have any professional ethics as a lawyer, I implore you to give up this case. Don’t make one mistake after another!”
“Ah, here we go again,” Kensuke sighed deeply, then, after tilting his head and looked at the kid, he asked:
“I really don’t understand. I just want to ask you one thing: why are you so certain that he’s the culprit? Do you have some advanced forensic methods, or do you rely solely on your eyes?”
Hearing his words, Conan stared directly into Kensuke’s eyes. “I use deductive reasoning because there’s only one truth.”
“There’s only one truth! Haha! I agree! You said it well!” Kensuke laughed.
He looked at Conan and suddenly remarked, “However, I don’t understand why a kid like you, someone who has never even left the confines of society, who relies on their parents for money and doesn’t understand the hardships of life, always seems to have the wisdom to speak as though you’ve figured out everything. I want to ask you, what do you truly understand?”
“I don’t understand your mindset of defending murderers!” Conan exclaimed, almost shouting. His raised voice attracted the attention of other cafe customers, who started whispering and looking in their direction.
“*Sigh*. Man, seeing you acting like this reminds me of when I was younger and naive, how nostalgic,” Kensuke said, his expression somewhere between a smile and not a smile, his eyes, despite looking at the kid, felt like looking at something else.
He raised both hands to signal the other customers not to mind their conversation.
“At that time, my language teacher asked me and my pal to write a prose about autumn, emphasizing the desolation and the image of leaves falling like frost. I thought about it; I wake up early to study every day, and after school, I continue studying until eleven or twelve at night. Where would I find the time to understand the desolation of autumn? So, the end result was relying on my imagination, using all sorts of extravagant words to describe an autumn I’d never actually seen…”
Pausing for a moment, Kensuke looked at Conan and gave a slightly mocking smile.
“Hey kid, or should I say, little detective, your current situation is just like how mine is back then, no different at all!”
Conan clenched his teeth in frustration.
Kensuke’s words are sharp, like a well-crafted blade.
After a brief moment, Conan suddenly turned to Haibara Ai and asked, “Haibara, what do you think?”
At this moment, Haibara Ai had shed the pretense of being a little girl.
“I actually think he’s not entirely wrong. People need to experience certain things and see certain things to be able to express corresponding views. A country from across the sea once said a classic phrase…”
Haibara Ai spoke in a calm tone.
“Do not advise others to do good until you have endured their suffering.”
Although her tone was calm, a hint of subtle sadness could be sensed.
Conan fell silent for a moment and then said, “I can’t understand… Haibara, are you planning to stand with this guy?”
“No, I didn’t have that intention from the beginning,” Haibara Ai gently shook her head, her ice-blue eyes looking at Conan.
“I came over just because you said I was like him, and I wanted to see for myself if that’s true. That’s the only reason.”
“So, now what? After seeing it in person, what do you think?”
Haibara Ai stared directly at him without any signs of retreat.
“Now, I think what you said earlier was right.”
Conan remained silent.
“Haibara, is there really no way to turn back?” In this moment, looking at the calm gaze of the girl in front of him, Conan felt a touch of sadness, as if a valve had been released, letting out his emotions.
“You left a letter and disappeared before, and Dr. Agasa was so sad he couldn’t eat properly for three days. He was waiting for you to come back, standing at the door every afternoon, hoping to see you with your school bag.”
“It’s impossible now.” Haibara Ai shook her head quietly. “You are like a hero bathed in the light, living under the warm and bright sun. But I am living in darkness, hiding in the sewers only at night. There can never be an intersection between us.”
“Haibara…”
“You both, Can you not act out some melodramatic nighttime drama like an adult when you’re just an elementary school student?” Conan was about to say more to Haibara, but a bored voice from the side interrupted him.
Kensuke looked at the two kids who had been bickering and sighed.
“You’ve been whispering here the whole time, talking about life and death, and as an adult, let me tell you, hearing your words is giving me second hand embarrassment. Please, keep it down; there are people around here with cell phones who might be recording you, if you are not careful, in the future, you will be known as the kid who loves to melodrama and used as a meme to no end.”
Conan and Haibara exchanged glances and decided to keep quiet.
“Well, Haibara, if that’s your decision, then I will respect it, I won’t try to persuade you anymore.”
Conan got up from his seat and shook his head.
“I just hope that the next time we meet, we will still be friends.”
With those words, he gave Haibara one last look and headed upstairs to the Mori Detective Agency.
Haibara Ai watched Conan’s retreating figure, her ice-blue eyes calm, showing no signs of emotion.
Since the decision had been made, there was no room for her to feel regret.
“Hey, little girl, he’s gone. What are you still doing here?” Kensuke’s voice came from beside her.