Kanjuro stood before the immobilized Ninzaburo Shiratori, as if admiring a work of art about to be destroyed. He did not act himself but slowly turned his head, casting his gaze upon Sumiko Kobayashi, who was still kneeling on the ground with a fervent look in her eyes.
His voice remained gentle, yet carried a bone-chilling coldness, echoing clearly in the twilight-shrouded classroom:
"Teacher Sumiko."
"Pick up that gun by your feet."
Kanjuro's gaze indicated the service pistol that Officer Shiratori had dropped.
"Then, kill Officer Shiratori."
This sentence sounded like the final death knell, ringing out in the silent classroom.
Sumiko Kobayashi's body trembled violently, as if she had been momentarily dragged out of a state of intoxication. She looked at the black pistol on the floor, then at Ninzaburo Shiratori, who was shackled by an invisible force, his face etched with disbelief and pain. That was Ninzaburo... her friend since childhood, the boy she had once encouraged to uphold justice... A faint, fleeting trace of the struggle belonging to the former Sumiko Kobayashi flashed in her eyes. Her fingers curled up, and she did not move immediately.
Although Officer Shiratori couldn't move his body, his eyes were filled with grief, indignation, and a sliver of remaining hope. He struggled to force sound from his throat: "Sumiko... don't... don't let him control you! Wake up!!"
Kanjuro did not rush her, merely watching quietly, the playful smile on his lips deepening. He enjoyed the process of pushing people to the brink, watching them struggle between morality, emotion, and yielding to fear. This was far more interesting than simple slaughter.
"Sumiko," Kanjuro's voice sounded again, carrying an alluring magic, "Do you remember your confession just now? You said you recognized the truth of the world. Now is the time to prove it."
"Severing ties with the past, abandoning those false attachments and weak pity... that is what truly means embracing reality."
"Kill him, and you will gain complete rebirth, forever shaking off those meaningless shackles. You will... truly belong to me."
The phrase "truly belong to me," consisting of several words, acted like a magical incantation, instantly crushing the last trace of hesitation in Sumiko Kobayashi's heart. Her fear and worship of Kanjuro, combined with a twisted desire for recognition and acceptance, surged like a black tide, completely drowning out her old affection for Shiratori and her remaining conscience.
The struggle in her eyes vanished, replaced by a near-fanatical resolve. She abruptly reached out and snatched the weapon from the ground—the very weapon she had once taught students to avoid, the one symbolizing "Justice" and "Order."
"Sumiko! No!!" Officer Shiratori let out a despairing roar. He couldn't believe that the kind Sumiko would actually raise a gun against him.
Sumiko Kobayashi's hand trembled slightly as she held the gun, but her gaze was exceptionally firm, fixed directly on Ninzaburo Shiratori. Through this action, she seemed intent on proving her loyalty to Kanjuro, and also proving to herself that she had completely broken ties with the naive and childish Sumiko Kobayashi of the past.
"I'm sorry, Ninzaburo..." Her voice was low and hoarse, yet carried a chilling calmness. "But you were right... this world doesn't need naive dreams, nor does it need... useless justice."
"Only Lord Kanjuro... is real."
Before the words finished, she pulled the trigger.
"Bang!!"
The gunshot was jarringly loud in the empty Old School Building, echoing incessantly.
The bullet accurately struck Ninzaburo Shiratori's chest. He suddenly widened his eyes, staring at the woman before him—his childhood playmate who was now shooting him expressionlessly. The last light of hope in his eyes was extinguished, replaced by endless pain, shock, and... a trace of bewildered relief. He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but ultimately just spat out a mouthful of blood. His body gave a stiff twitch within the invisible shackles, and then fell still forever.
Sumiko Kobayashi held the smoking pistol, staring blankly at Shiratori's fallen figure, her arm dropping limply. The immense shock caused her to lose focus for a moment, but soon, a twisted emptiness and strange excitement, as if having completed a "holy ritual," surged within her. She turned her head to look at Kanjuro, her eyes holding a trace of expectant confirmation mixed with the numbness of complete surrender.
Kanjuro looked at her and finally displayed a smile that could be called "approving." He stepped forward, took the gun from her hand, tossed it carelessly onto the ground, and gently pulled her into an embrace.
"Well done, my Sumiko." He whispered in her ear, like a devil's hymn. "Welcome to... the real world."
Sumiko Kobayashi nestled in Kanjuro's cold embrace, feeling this "acceptance" from the darkness, and closed her eyes. She had personally murdered her past, killed her former ideals and friendship, and completely extinguished the light-hearted Sumiko Kobayashi. From this moment on, she was merely Kanjuro's possession, another lost soul in his dark empire.
Outside the classroom, night had completely enveloped Teitan Elementary School, as if swallowing all the sins and sorrowful cries.
Guided by the registry in the Academic Affairs Office, they finally found the slightly worn metal box—marked with the year and class—in the Library's Old Storage Room: the Time Capsule belonging to Kanjuro and Akemi Miyano.
They chose not to open it immediately. Instead, they took it back to the surviving, ancient cherry tree in the school's back garden, bathed in the bright moonlight. Although the original Cherry Blossom Grove was gone, this solitary large tree remained lush and green, swaying gently in the night breeze, as if guarding secrets forgotten by time.
Kanjuro sat casually on the natural seat formed by the tangled tree roots. Akemi Miyano nestled obediently on his left, carefully holding the Time Capsule in her arms as if it were a priceless treasure. Sumiko Kobayashi knelt on his right, her posture respectful and submissive, her gaze almost unable to leave Kanjuro, her eyes mixing reverence, worship, and a trace of exhaustion after completing the "trial."
Moonlight flowed like mercury, casting mottled shadows on the three through the gaps in the branches and leaves. The night wind carried the scent of grass and earth, and the distant city lights glowed like the halo of another world. There were no intense words, no worldly disturbances, only a strange "tranquility" built upon absolute control and complete submission.
Akemi Miyano occasionally softly recalled the things that might be stored inside the capsule: a dried petal, a childish drawing, or a vow that felt incredibly important then but was now vague. Her voice was gentle, tinged with nostalgia for the past, but even more, with gratitude towards the man beside her for bringing her back to this place.
Sumiko Kobayashi remained silent most of the time. Her life had been completely overthrown and reshaped within a few hours. Having personally buried her past ideals and friendships, kneeling at Kanjuro's feet now gave her a twisted sense of "peace" and "belonging." She no longer needed to contemplate right or wrong; she only needed to follow.
Kanjuro rarely spoke. He simply leaned lazily against the tree trunk, one hand idly stroking Akemi's long hair, the other occasionally lifting to gently raise Sumiko Kobayashi's chin with a finger, scrutinizing the dead, loyal starry sky in her eyes. What he enjoyed was this absolute domination and the thrill of twisting light and dragging it into his dark domain.
They did not open the Time Capsule. Perhaps the contents were no longer important, or perhaps Kanjuro felt that sealing away that childish past forever was the best offering to this current, twisted "perfection."
This night, accompanied by moonlight, the cherry tree, and silence, was like a static black-and-white scroll painting—beautiful, yet lifeless, filled with suffocating tranquility and bone-deep possession. For Kanjuro, it was another perfect display of his power and charisma; for Akemi Miyano and Sumiko Kobayashi, it was the twisted "harbor" they found after sinking into darkness.
It wasn't until the east turned pale with dawn that the three quietly departed, leaving the cherry tree and the unopened metal box beneath it to continue guarding the campus that could never return to the past. And their relationship, after this bizarre night, became even more solid and... inseparable. At Kanjuro's suggestion, Sumiko Kobayashi, without hesitation, proactively offered to take him to Ayumi Yoshida's Home for a visit. Her thoughts were now entirely centered on Kanjuro's will, without even considering the impact this action might have on the young Ayumi.
Akemi Miyano quietly followed on Kanjuro's other side, raising no objection. In her view, everything Brother Kanjuro did had a profound meaning.
The three arrived at the entrance of the Yoshida Home. Before they could ring the doorbell, a rapid and loud barking sound came from inside the courtyard. Ayumi's family kept a rather alert Shiba Inu, which was now barking furiously toward Kanjuro through the fence gate, its fur standing on end and its tail tucked tightly between its legs. Animal instinct allowed it to sense the thick, suffocating aura of darkness and ill omen emanating from the presence outside the door. It desperately warned, trying to drive away this terrifying threat.
This continuous, grating barking caused Kanjuro to slightly furrow his brow. He disliked such uncontrolled noise, especially when he intended to make a "gentle" visit.
Seeing this, Sumiko Kobayashi showed a trace of panic, fearing that the beast's disrespect would anger Lord Kanjuro. She was about to scold the dog.
However, Kanjuro merely glanced indifferently at the continuously barking Shiba Inu. He didn't even make any obvious movement; only an extremely subtle dark light flashed in his eyes.
The next moment, a ball of flame, black as ink yet with edges flickering with an eerie pale white color, appeared out of thin air on the Shiba Inu's body!
The flame had no temperature; instead, it emitted an extreme coldness that seemed to devour light and heat. The Shiba Inu's barking abruptly ceased, transforming into a short, utterly mournful shriek. It didn't even have time to struggle before the black flame, as if alive, instantly spread over its entire body.
In the blink of an eye, the Shiba Inu, which had been lively moments before, was incinerated and carbonized right at the entrance of Ayumi's courtyard, under Kanjuro's calm gaze and the reverent eyes of Sumiko Kobayashi and Akemi Miyano. It was ultimately reduced to a small pile of charred, curled remains, barely recognizable as a dog shape. Not a wisp of smoke rose, as if all matter and energy had been completely consumed by the strange Dark Holy Fire.
The surroundings instantly fell into a dead silence.
The commotion in the yard seemed to have alerted the people inside the house. Faint footsteps and Ayumi's puzzled call could be heard: 'Xiao Bai? What's wrong?'
Kanjuro acted as if he had only done something trivial. He straightened his non-existent cuffs and calmly said to Sumiko Kobayashi, whose face was pale but who was trying hard to remain composed:
'Now, it's quiet.'
'Go ring the doorbell, Teacher Kobayashi.' Shortly after the doorbell rang, the door of the Yoshida Residence was cautiously opened a crack. Ayumi Yoshida's small face peeked out from behind the door. When she saw Teacher Kobayashi standing outside, she visibly relaxed, immediately opened the door, and threw herself into Sumiko Kobayashi's arms.
'Teacher Kobayashi! Are you okay? I was so worried about you!' Ayumi tightly hugged Teacher Kobayashi's waist, her voice trembling with tears and lingering fear. Clearly, witnessing Kanjuro's actions at school yesterday had left her deeply shaken.
Sumiko Kobayashi's body stiffened slightly, then she forced a comforting smile onto her face and gently patted Ayumi's back: 'Ayumi, teacher is fine. Don't worry.' She tried to make her tone sound natural, but the faint, barely noticeable numbness and unusual glint deep in her eyes were different from the gentle teacher she used to be.
She took the opportunity to gently pull Ayumi away a little and pointed at Kanjuro and Akemi Miyano beside her, trying to speak in a lighthearted tone: 'Look, Mr. Kanjuro and this Older Sister Akemi aren't bad people. Mr. Kanjuro... he's actually a very good person. There might have been some misunderstanding yesterday.'
Ayumi looked up and glanced suspiciously at Kanjuro. The little girl's intuition made her instinctively fearful, but Teacher Kobayashi's words left her confused. She remembered Conan and Shinichi-niichan had seriously warned her that Kanjuro was a very, very dangerous and utterly wicked bad person. These two completely different claims clashed in her small mind, leaving her at a loss. She instinctively shrank back behind Teacher Kobayashi.
At that moment, Kanjuro's gaze passed over Ayumi and Teacher Kobayashi, landing on the direction of the living room inside the house. A flicker of genuine surprise flashed in his eyes, then transformed into an amused smile.
On the living room sofa, a small figure with tea-colored short hair sat stiffly, holding an open picture book in her hands. But her gaze was fixed intently on the doorway, her ice-blue eyes filled with complete vigilance and tension—it was Shiho Miyano, using the alias Ai Haibara.
Ai Haibara hadn't expected to see Kanjuro again here, in this way, nor had she expected her Older Sister Akemi Miyano to appear with him. Seeing her sister standing beside Kanjuro, her posture seeming natural, even carrying a hint of dependence, made her heart instantly sink. Sister... had she really been completely bewitched by this man?
Akemi Miyano also saw her sister and immediately showed a delighted smile: 'Shiho! Are you playing at Ayumi's house too?' She seemed to want to step forward, but sensing that Kanjuro hadn't moved, she stopped.
Kanjuro looked at Ai Haibara's appearance—as if facing a great enemy, yet not daring to act rashly because her sister was present—and the smile on his face deepened. He didn't press forward immediately. Instead, he gave Ayumi a smile that could be called 'kind,' though it still seemed somewhat frightening to Ayumi.
'It seems today is an unexpected surprise, Haibara Ai.' Kanjuro's voice was gentle, yet carried a penetrating insight that saw through everything, directly exposing Ai Haibara's disguised identity. 'The opportunity to take you 'home' with your sister seems to have arrived early.'
Ai Haibara tightly clenched the picture book in her hands, her knuckles turning white. She knew one of the worst scenarios had still occurred. Kanjuro had not only found her but was also using her sister as a link, putting her in an extremely passive position. Looking at her sister's seemingly unaware, even joyful face, her heart was filled with endless worry and icy despair.
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