Conan: The Phantom Heart Thief

"Originally, your parents did not support my father's decision to join the Karasuma Group. While it's common to make high-level investments to build a strong pharmaceutical company, they believed that the Karasuma Group's venture into the pharmaceutical industry was inherently suspicious... Unlike my father, your father, Karasawa Ichikawa, despite being rejected by the mainstream academic community in terms of theoretical research, he and your aunt were both excellent neurosurgeons. Their radical ideas never compromised their surgical ability. In the medical field, they were still recognized as top-tier."

As she spoke, Miyano Akemi's slender white fingers tightened around her porcelain cup, pressing hard against its side.

"Later, a little over a year after you and Shiho were born... my parents died in a laboratory accident."

Kazawa let out a quiet "hmm."

He already knew about the Miyano couple's deaths, but for Miyano Akemi—who was eight or nine at the time—it must have been a traumatic event.

He reached out and gently covered her fingers that were pressing hard against the cup, silently offering comfort.

Miyano Akemi held onto his hand tightly, as if drawing strength from him just to continue speaking. "Originally, my uncle and aunt wanted to adopt Shiho and me after we lost our parents. But then, Zhao—you were diagnosed with autism."

"...Autism?" Kazawa opened his eyes wide. "Me?"

"Yes. You were not even two years old then... That diagnosis was a huge blow to them. They became too overwhelmed to take in Shiho and me. Instead, they took you with them and searched the world for treatment options. But..."

"But autism can't be cured," Kazawa quietly finished the sentence for her.

As the unexpected answer settled in, that familiar wave of emotion returned. It felt like a long-lost answer had finally landed.

"So that's how it is... so that's how it is..." he muttered.

Why did the Karasawa couple shift from neurosurgery to psychology? Why did two top-level surgeons suddenly dive deep into cognitive science more than a decade ago? Why does Kazawa Zhao's memory seem so extreme—so good it seems inhuman?

This was the turning point. The origin of everything.

Their child had autism.

"Ah Zhao..." Miyano Akemi looked at him with concern.

Kazawa raised his head, seemingly unaware of the tears streaming down his face, and continued, "Because I had autism, they urgently shifted their research focus. Conventional medicine had no solution, so they had to explore more cutting-edge theories... That's when they accepted funding from the organization and joined the Karasuma Group, right?"

Miyano Akemi put down her cup and tried to lean forward to wipe his tears, but Kazawa shook his head and pulled back.

These tears weren't his—they were Kazawa Zhao's. He had no right to suppress them.

"After learning that spectrum disorders had no cure, your parents couldn't accept it," Miyano Akemi said softly, gripping his hands tightly to steady his emotions. "Even though some people on the spectrum can integrate into society and become independent through long-term behavioral training, it doesn't mean they're cured."

It was like the 52-hertz whale—its voice incomprehensible to others, unable to hear the world's responses.

Autism... the most fitting name for that condition.

As for Kazawa Zhao himself—Kazawa had some theories.

"Autism is incurable?" Xingchuan Hui, who had been quietly listening, finally asked, "But Kazawa seems perfectly normal now..."

Even with his limited understanding of the condition, Hoshikawa Teru knew it was difficult for autistic individuals to engage in regular social interaction.

But Kazawa?

He might be the most socially adept person Xingchuan Hui had ever seen. Multiple identities, distinct voices and personalities—he even found it fun.

Compared to Kazawa, Xingchuan Hui felt more like the autistic one.

"That's the real issue," Kazawa answered before Miyano Akemi could. "Originally, their research remained purely theoretical. It sounded far-fetched—like science fiction. The organization's interest may not have been in their psychological research, but in their medical and biological backgrounds. But then, one day, their only patient—their autistic child—recovered."

Miyano Akemi nodded, confirming his words.

"When did I recover?"

"Eight years ago, when you were ten."

"...I see."

Though tears continued to fall, Kazawa was already calmly analyzing the situation.

Could people without awakened Personas use cognitive abilities?

Yes. A perfect example: Takuto Maruki. Even before awakening, he unconsciously used his powers to alter his ex-girlfriend's memories—making her forget the pain of her parents' deaths.

In fact, those who study cognitive science deeply might find it easier to access these powers.

Could that be what happened with Kazawa Zhao and his parents?

Let's look at Kazawa Zhao's autism first.

Considering that Kazawa had lived a seemingly normal life for over thirty years, Kazawa Zhao's condition was strange. It was possible that he suffered from a memory-related condition—like hyperthymesia—because his recollection was unnaturally vivid.

Forgetting is a natural self-defense mechanism of the brain. It regularly deletes irrelevant or painful information to ease the mental burden.

Kazawa Zhao had clearly lost this function.

Memories of pain, anger, sadness—every emotion remained burned into him. So much so that even Kazawa, as a well-trained adult, couldn't resist their effects. Time and again, he had cried expressionless tears.

Autism, in this case, might have been a mental defense—an emotional barrier set up by a fragile mind.

As long as he didn't understand or feel emotions, even storing excess information wouldn't break him.

"The cognitive world is real—not just abstract. You've both seen it. You understand." Kazawa wiped his tears and said calmly, "So—is it possible my parents unconsciously corrected a defect in my mind? And I suddenly recovered?"

Because from that point on, Kazawa Zhao returned to a perfectly normal life—school, friends, social activities. There was no sign of autism.

Looking at it another way, perhaps their treatment taught him a way to organize his memories.

He couldn't forget. His brain had lost that ability. So, he built mental "drawers" to store and seal memories. Only with the right "key" could a drawer be opened, and its contents replayed.

…Thinking about it like that, what a group of genius backyard scientists his family was!

Atsushi and Elena Miyano were working on a miracle drug to cure death and somehow invented APTX4869—blatantly defying the law of conservation of mass.

To treat their son's autism, Ikawa and Leona Karasawa pioneered cognitive science and created the Phantom Thief of Hearts. Their symbol still graces the Shibuya subway.

Sera Mari really had no business joining MI6. What a waste!

If she'd studied physics instead, perpetual motion machines might already exist!