Detective Conan: Death Note

It was a bar with a resident band and an elegant atmosphere.

On the stage, soothing music was playing.

"Hey, that client who just came back was so happy he didn't even realize his death anniversary is coming up, right, brother?"

In the dim firelight of the bar, Vodka grinned at the name on the business card.

Gin didn't respond.

Vodka looked up at him and saw he was silently watching the performance above, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"Brother?"

…

"Ah, are you looking at the singer about to perform? Her voice is intoxicating…"

Vodka followed Gin's gaze toward the stage. At the edge of the backstage, a foreign woman with dark skin and thick lips was preparing to go on:

"She looks pretty good. You into that type, brother?"

Gin didn't answer.

Though he had no interest in women, he was speechless about Vodka's aesthetic taste.

At that moment, a bartender approached.

Before he could speak, Gin fixed him with a sharp glare.

"What do you mean you witnessed Cointreau's accidental murder?"

"…What are you talking about, sir?"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Gin seized the bartender's head, slamming it against the table. With his other hand, he picked up an ice pick from the ice bucket—

—and plunged it into the man's head.

At the last second, Vermouth pulled away with a sly smile, revealing the bartender's human skin mask impaled by the ice pick.

Vodka stood there, mouth agape.

"So irritable! Do you care that much about Cointreau?"

"What are his test results?"

"Of course I brought them."

Vermouth produced a paper report, tossing it onto the table in front of Gin as she gathered her hair and tied it back.

"It happened this afternoon on the Metropolitan Expressway, near the Little Buddha Tunnel... But I don't even need to tell you—you'll see it in the report tomorrow."

"I already told you, your intelligence team doesn't need to contact him," Gin muttered darkly.

"Oh, I have zero interest in getting close to that dangerous guy. Just had the misfortune of bumping into him today," she said with a smirk.

Gin wasn't interested in her lies. He picked up the report and glanced through it.

Hayashi Yoshiki had guessed wrong.

That physical exam he took had nothing to do with the Organization. But Vermouth, with her disguises, still managed to get her hands on it.

"Luckily, your so-called successor is in good health. But... there's one slightly troubling indicator."

—Elevated serum testosterone levels.

Gin noticed it even before Vermouth pointed it out.

Attached to the report was the doctor's note from the clinic. Despite confirming that Hayashi Yoshiki's testosterone level was unusually high, the doctor concluded that Yoshiki was stable and merely had a strong sexual drive.

What nonsense.

Gin sneered.

A guy like Cointreau wouldn't be swayed by some base instinct to reproduce.

After all, this idiot beside him had invited Cointreau out to "play" several times, and even Chianti's occasional teasing was flat-out ignored by him.

Clearly, this diagnosis was laughable.

Or... was it?

Cointreau was a murderous genius. He was also mentally unstable.

Sexual drive and fetishes are often intertwined.

What if his fetish... was killing?

Gin's eyes slowly narrowed.

If you combined Cointreau's uncontrollable urge to kill with a strong sexual drive...

That would explain a lot.

Gin suddenly felt a headache coming on.

He had once thought that even if Hayashi Yoshiki was ill, as long as his craving to kill was satisfied, he'd be a perfect subordinate—flawless missions, sharp intellect, capable of managing others.

Most importantly, he could lead.

But today's results suggested that his mental state was more serious than expected.

…

Back when he nearly died at the pharmaceutical plant, Gin had genuinely listened to Hayashi Yoshiki.

He had thought: Perhaps I could groom Cointreau as my future successor.

Like Rum, who built a circle of confidants in high places, Gin had only Vodka at his side. If he ever died unexpectedly, Vodka alone wouldn't survive.

"But Cointreau doesn't even seem like a carnivore,"

Vermouth said, lighting her cigarette with a ding, and added slyly:

"Who knows, I might even be a little interested."

"Oh…"

Gin gave a cold, sarcastic laugh.

What did he mean by that?

Vermouth arched an eyebrow.

But after learning of Cointreau's condition, the first person she thought of was Ran.

That guy was good at coaxing women. What if, one day, he decided to target Ran?

Just imagining it gave Vermouth a headache.

But—Cointreau still owed her a favor.

How could she stop him from going after Ran?

Meanwhile…

"Yes, the situation is exactly as Inspector Megure described. The deaths of the two robbers… have all the signs of an accidental murder."

"Just like the Thomas Schindler case."

"No—we still can't confirm that Thomas Schindler was the accidental murderer."

"Perhaps someone else is lurking in the shadows, manipulating things through Noah's Ark."

"But what worries me more is that the robbers' identities were never made public… Why would the person behind this accident target them? And how did he find them?"

Late at night—

In a beautifully decorated room, Hayashi Yoshiki was on the phone with Odagiri Toshiro, speaking in an unnervingly calm tone.

Straddling him, Reiko Shimizu fought to suppress her excitement.

She wrapped her arms around Hayashi Yoshiki's neck and let her hot breath tickle his skin.

But Hayashi Yoshiki, unaffected by her moist, enticing gaze, simply smiled, raising his index finger to his lips.

Be quiet.

Reiko Shimizu immediately behaved, too afraid to make another sound.

"Alright, let's talk in person, Minister Odagiri."

"It's getting late."

"Please get some rest."

After a short conversation, he hung up.

Reiko Shimizu waited until she was sure the call was over. Then, like a kitten finally let loose, she clung to him gleefully.

Today, she had hidden in the shadows with a sniper rifle and targeted Kunio Yashima. She had done her part.

"You were amazing today, Mr. Hayashi!"

"Yeah?"

"Yes~ I was so excited when I got back… so please…"

"Give me a reward."