Conan: The Phantom Heart Thief

After being stunned for a long while, Kazawa quickly looked away as if to escape, picked up the teacup again and took two sips of tea to calm his nerves.

...This is really unexpected.

It's over. I feel like I can hear Leon laughing in the Velvet Room.

"Since you said so..." Kazawa sighed, looking helplessly at the liquid swaying in the teacup, his brain began to work frantically.

It's not that he can't tell Hattori Heiji some things... it's just that the relationship between Goro Akechi and the original identity designed by Kazawa is still quite subtle, and there are some things that cannot be said through Akechi's mouth.

There's no need to worry about the organization. In their eyes, Kazawa Zhao is already dead. Akechi Goro is Kazawa Zhao, and he's free to say whatever he wants.

As for the Red Team, Kazawa hopes they can maintain a vague impression that "Akechi might be a villain," so he can attribute some organization-related matters to this persona. If Akechi Goro gets too close to the Red Team, it'll be difficult to explain things later, so it's better not to portray him too positively from the beginning.

And, well, traitors do tend to perform better, right?

In general, the current identity of Goro Akechi is positioned to have a complex relationship with Kazawa—both enemy and friend. He needs to think carefully about how to phrase things.

"You just mentioned the commission Kazawa gave you... it seems that you know his current situation." Kazawa refilled his teacup and spoke at a steady, unhurried pace, like a detective discussing matters with a client. "The case he was involved in can't be resolved so easily. If you plan to pull him out of the abyss, you'd better be prepared to be crushed to pieces."

Hattori Heiji raised his head and stared wide-eyed at the composed Akechi Goro. He caught the subtext in his words: "You know the inside story of his case?"

"I have some guesses, but I won't help him." Akechi Goro set the teapot down. The crisp sound of the porcelain base striking the plate echoed like thunder in Hattori Heiji's ears. "The reason he was persecuted is related to what he holds. Those people won't stop until Kazawa Zhao is destroyed. I can't help him, and I have no intention of getting involved."

Hattori Heiji exhaled heavily, trying to blow away the frustration and pressure in his chest.

This wasn't just a matter of wrongful conviction or being framed.

"...I kind of figured." Hattori Heiji said solemnly, "After listening to Kazawa talk about his case, I tried searching online. I ended up discovering something else by accident."

Kazawa raised his eyebrows slightly and finally understood why Hattori Heiji had this attitude today.

It seemed he had discovered the remnants of the online abuse aimed at Kazawa Zhao. At this point, in his mind, Kazawa was probably a desperate, helpless, pitiful youth.

"You saw those things?" Akechi Goro raised his teacup again and lowered his eyelids to hide his gaze. "What do you think?"

Hattori Heiji gripped the fabric at his knees, clearly remembering a lot. In the end, he could only weakly comment: "Those things... are awful."

There was still gloom between his brows. Facing such raw malice, even if it wasn't directed at himself, it still made him feel suffocated.

Jokes filled with venom, words lashing out at someone drowning, and even people writing filthy slurs on Kazawa's photos. All of it made it hard to believe that the ones behind it were students—people their own age.

Shielded by anonymity, like beasts in human skin, they could shed civilization and torment a living person to the point of social death with nothing but language and images.

This was a public execution in the name of righteousness. They no longer cared what the one on the scaffold looked like.

"And all of this was part of a plan." Kazawa said, "Originally, Kazawa shouldn't have been sent to Tokyo. You're a detective, and a police officer's son—you must understand how the justice system works. The best way to implement protective observation is to preserve a juvenile offender's privacy and let them live as normal a life as possible. His original high school had already approved this, so he didn't have to transfer so far away."

"They stirred up rumors on SNS and deliberately incited public opinion. I looked up some of it... Damn it." Hattori Heiji growled with the same anger Amuro Toru once did. "How could this be allowed to happen? What was the local police doing?"

Kazawa shrugged, pretending to be indifferent: "Those people have power. All they had to do was target an orphaned high school student. Compared to the benefits involved, Kazawa's life was negligible."

His detached attitude ignited Hattori Heiji's anger. The next moment, his face clearly showed his dissatisfaction: "Since you knew all this, what have you done for him? As a detective, standing by while this happens is disgraceful!"

"I'm sorry. Maybe I'm too used to how things work in the United States. I don't play detective for justice. All I can offer is to not kick him while he's down." Akechi Goro's voice was cold. "You should try to understand what kind of dangerous thing Kazawa is holding that got him into this. Yes, I'm friendly with him, but I'm under no obligation to save him. Not adding fuel to the fire already makes me a decent guy. Kazawa Zhao might be innocent, but the fact that his last name is Kazawa... I can't help but be a little satisfied seeing him in that state."

After saying this ambiguous and cold remark, Kazawa completely dropped Goro Akechi's polished public mask and let sarcasm and bitterness show freely.

Yes, this dynamic was loosely inspired by Vermouth and Haibara Ai. A shadow of it made its way into Akechi's backstory.

Honestly, it wasn't entirely fiction. Xingchuan Hui had indeed suffered due to Kazawa's parents. He was subjected to experiments at age ten, and controlled for years by the drugs developed by Kazawa's family... If it hadn't been Kazawa who saved him, his feelings might've truly matched the words he was now saying.

"You..." Hattori Heiji clenched his fist, struggling.

Akechi clearly knew more than he let on. He wanted to lash out, but he lacked the moral position to judge Akechi Goro.

The hot-blooded detective, never known for eloquence, could only glare in protest. The expression looked so childish that Kazawa almost laughed out loud.

"Well... considering Kazawa trusts you." Kazawa took a calming sip of tea, suppressing the urge to laugh. Then he pulled out a folder and clipped his new business card to it. "This is Kazawa's previous academic record and a brief case summary. If you hit a dead end, feel free to consult me. But as you can see, I already work at a firm, and consultation isn't free. Today is your free trial during our soft launch. Thanks for your patronage."

Hattori Heiji's expression twisted. He looked at Akechi's smug face, then at the file. He couldn't throw it away, but didn't want to take it either—eventually he took it with visible frustration.

"People like you are a disgrace to detectives." It was the meanest thing Hattori could muster.

"Pfft." Kazawa burst out laughing, completely unfazed. "Sorry, the glory of the detective world is in your hands."

Hattori Heiji stormed out with the file, slamming the door behind him.

Toru Amuro, organizing things in the other room, was startled by the noise. He turned to see the stubborn boy—who wouldn't leave no matter what—stomping away, fuming.

"You made him run off so quickly." Amuro Toru blinked, half-impressed. "What did you say to him?"

"It's easy to deal with hot-blooded kids. Just act a little darker. He won't like you, but he'll still have to deal with you—then he gets mad and leaves." Kazawa waved lazily, as if the whole change in plan wasn't caused by Hattori's straightforwardness. "Looks like this place is mostly set up. But if you're here a lot, what about the café?"

"What else? Business as usual. The office doesn't need anyone around when it's quiet." Amuro, who had no trouble juggling multiple part-time jobs, replied easily.

Kazawa looked at him with admiration: "...So you're working four jobs at once, boss. You okay with that?"

Can he even avoid dying young?

"It's fine." The part-time emperor waved it off. "I already told Miss Enomoto. There are other part-timers at the café. It won't be too busy."

What could Kazawa say? He could only applaud to express his respect for this iron-liver legend.

"And don't talk like you're any better. Aren't you doing the same thing?" Amuro Toru looked at Kazawa strangely. "You're working as a detective, attending school, and you're also embedded in the organization... You're not any more relaxed than I am."

Actually, Kazawa—who also works as a phantom thief—had his hands frozen mid-clap.

...That's a fair point. I can't argue.

On the other side, an angry Hattori Heiji rushed to the subway entrance, then let out a deep breath, pulled out the folder Akechi gave him, and immediately saw the business card clipped to the first page.

Hattori Heiji: "…" What now? I really want to throw this away.

He pulled out the gold-embossed card, looked at it repeatedly, and then reluctantly slid it into his wallet.

Damn it... What if I really need to consult that guy during Kazawa's investigation?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Hattori Heiji took out his phone and fired off an email to Kazawa.

Kazawa, who was still chatting with Amuro Toru about part-time jobs, glanced at the new notification, opened the message, and read:

[Goro Akechi is a very unpleasant and annoying guy. How do you know someone like that…? Stay away from him. He's not a good person.]

Kazawa: "…cough cough cough."