Conan: The Phantom Heart Thief

"So that's how it is. You were one of the children who participated in your uncle and aunt's experiments." Miyano Akemi, with her damp long hair loose and a cup of warm instant coffee in her hands, said softly as the realization dawned on her after listening to Hoshikawa Teru's calm and monotone explanation.

"Yeah." Xingchuan Hui lowered his eyes. His Adam's apple moved slightly, but he didn't mention Tunkou Shigehiko. He only said, "I never met the ones running the experiment directly, but I did meet you back then."

Miyano Akemi lowered her gaze to the steaming coffee. Her voice grew gentler. "Yes, I was still in college at the time. Because of the organization's demands, I joined the lab and worked as an assistant researcher for a while... I'm sorry. Those experiments must have been painful."

"I don't remember clearly." Xingchuan Hui replied honestly. "My memories from that time are vague and muddled. I was just surprised... The organization's experiments were clearly illegal, yet the lab itself was funded by a major pharmaceutical company. I didn't expect a company that large to be involved with the organization."

When it came to the experiments themselves, Hoshikawa Teru didn't understand much—but when it came to being experimented on, he had far too much firsthand experience.

In the beginning, he wasn't brought to any formal laboratory. He was simply fed various unknown drugs during training. Blood was drawn every day, tests were run, and results were recorded.

Later, they started using strange instruments. Some caused no sensation, others felt like torture.

But all of it felt… "unofficial." He never once thought the organization was conducting proper scientific research. He assumed they had just acquired black market drugs and equipment and were using them recklessly.

Until that experience at the research lab.

The 20+ floor research building gleamed with sunlight. Employees in matching white coats walked calmly through bright corridors. Floor-to-ceiling glass curved around the building like a wide arc, embracing the Tokyo morning.

Xingchuan Hui walked through the futuristic, high-tech corridor as if a heavy shadow wrapped tightly around his neck.

If even a place so clean and bright was just one of the organization's branches—if the organization was so deeply rooted it had infiltrated society's bloodstream—then what difference did it make whether he was walking in the dark or the light?

Miyano Akemi let out a bitter, melancholic smile. "If we hadn't stepped into it, who would've thought a criminal organization had control over so much? If we had realized sooner… maybe we, and Kazawa, wouldn't be in this situation today."

"Why do you say that?"

The voice wasn't Hoshikawa Teru's—it was Kazawa's, who had just walked in.

He had already removed his disguise, but still wore Goro Akechi's khaki outfit. Running his fingers through his hair, he fluffed it out. Kazawa's own hair was stiff and naturally messy, and he had to use a ton of styling spray every time he used the Akechi persona.

"Why do you both look so gloomy? The operation went well. Cheer up." Kazawa tossed his suitcase aside and slumped onto the sofa. "Don't worry about the police—they're convinced you're dead… Man, what a day. At least the result was decent."

"Don't you need to go back to the café?" Hoshikawa Teru tossed him a can of iced coffee.

Though the house was technically Kazawa's, he almost never stayed there. He still lived in the little attic above the café. Anyone who saw that would think he was being freeloaded off.

"No need. I already told Amuro-san I'd stay here tonight." Kazawa popped open the can and looked between the two of them. His gaze lingered on Xingchuan Hui. "What were you guys talking about? Why the heavy mood?"

"...We were talking about the organization's research institute," Xingchuan Hui admitted under Kazawa's probing eyes. "We were saying it's hard to believe how deeply pharmaceutical companies are involved with them… Even as someone in the organization, if I hadn't been a subject in so many experiments, I wouldn't believe it myself."

Miyano Akemi's hands tightened around her porcelain cup as she let out a long sigh.

"If only we'd realized the power behind those labs earlier..." she murmured, looking at Kazawa. Without his disguise, she couldn't help but give him a nostalgic smile. "Maybe our fates would be completely different."

Kazawa's expression shifted. He straightened from his lazy sprawl on the sofa.

He had some understanding of how the Miyano couple were pulled into the organization, but his knowledge of Kazawa Akira and Leona was incomplete.

Miyano Akemi, who had lived within the organization for nearly twenty years, might be the person who knew their past best.

"Sister Akemi," Kazawa said, placing his coffee aside and thinking aloud, "I've always had a question. Why were Mom and Dad involved with the organization in the first place? I never found an answer. I don't even know what kind of research they were conducting. After I received their belongings, the organization suddenly began targeting me. I just… don't understand. They didn't seem like the kind of people who'd join a criminal group..."

It was a question that had lingered in his heart for years.

After reuniting with Kazawa tonight, Miyano Akemi had known this moment would come. Some truths couldn't be avoided. She looked at him seriously.

She had seen him at ten years old in photos—photos kept by her uncle and aunt. A timid-looking boy who struggled to smile at the camera.

Now, this child stood taller than her.

"Yes… You deserve to know the truth. But Zhao, no matter what you hear next..." Miyano Akemi gazed at him gently. She reached out, placing her coffee-warmed hand on Kazawa's slightly cold cheek. "You must remember—none of this is your fault. And it's not their fault either."

Kazawa froze, but didn't flinch from her touch. He nodded quietly. "I understand."

It was the Dogecoin organization's fault. The Karasawa and Sera families were both victims—deeply wounded by them.

"Ah Zhao, since you already know about our relationship, you should know that your mother, Leona Karasawa, is my mother's sister. When she came to Japan to attend my parents' wedding, she met my father's good friend in the academic community—your father, Karasawa Ikawa. A few years later, she married him and settled here in Japan. Around that time, my father, who had been rejected by the mainstream scientific community, accepted funding from the Karasawa Group and began his research."

At this, Miyano Akemi let out a small, bitter laugh.

Everything had started with her father—the "mad scientist." Truly, fate was not kind.

"My father, Miyano Atsushi, was called a 'mad scientist.' Most in the academic world didn't support his theories. His career had always been frustrating. Very few believed in his work, let alone funded it. Your father was one of the rare few who did..."

Kazawa raised an eyebrow and caught the subtext, continuing, "Because my father was also a 'madman'—his ideas weren't accepted by the academic mainstream."

Cognitive science. It always sounded like pseudoscience to outsiders. And then there were the Miyanos and their so-called "Silver Bullet," even developing something like APTX4869… literal black tech.

To normal scholars, this family must have looked like a congregation of crackpots—every last one of them completely insane.