Kaito hesitated for a moment. Reason was screaming warnings at him, but looking at Aoko's pale face, he still took one step, then two, shortening the distance between them to about three meters.
"Can you talk now? What on earth happened? Are you—"
His words came to an abrupt halt.
Because Aoko's right hand had pulled out from her coat pocket.
In her hand, she held a gun.
A pitch-black, cold handgun.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment. Kaito's brain went completely blank for several seconds; he couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. Aoko... holding a gun? Pointing it at him?
Then he saw the look in Aoko's eyes—it wasn't the look of someone being coerced, nor was it a look of terror, but rather a hollow, determined gaze.
"Aoko, you—"
The gun fired.
Bang!
The deafening gunshot echoed through the narrow alley. Almost the instant he saw Aoko pull the trigger, Kaito instinctively dove to the side. The bullet grazed his left shoulder, tearing through his school uniform jacket and leaving a clear bullet hole in the wall behind him.
"Have you lost your mind?!" Kaito rolled once on the ground and quickly stood up, his back against the wall, staring at Aoko in shock.
Aoko didn't answer. There was no expression on her face as she mechanically adjusted the muzzle and aimed again.
Bang! Bang!
Two more shots. Kaito leaped to the side as the bullets struck the ground where he had just been, sending gravel flying. His heart pounded wildly, adrenaline surging through his veins. This was no joke; Aoko really wanted to kill him!
"Aoko! Stop!" Kaito shouted while searching for cover. "Look closely! It's me! Kaito!"
Aoko's movements stalled for a moment. Her lips moved as if she were mumbling something to herself, but Kaito couldn't hear it. Then, her gaze became firm again—or rather, hollow once more.
She began to walk forward, the gun constantly pointed in Kaito's direction.
Kaito's mind raced. Something was clearly wrong with Aoko; she seemed controlled, or... brainwashed. But now wasn't the time for analysis. He needed to escape, he needed to subdue her without hurting her, and he needed to find out exactly what had happened.
Bang!
Another shot. Kaito crouched behind a row of trash cans as the bullet hit a metal bin, making a piercing sound.
"Aoko, listen to me!" Kaito shouted, peeking from the edge of the trash can. "Whatever Mr. Kanjuro told you, it's not true! You're not the kind of person who would do this!"
Aoko's footsteps paused briefly. Kaito saw her fingers trembling, and her hand holding the gun was somewhat unsteady.
A chance!
Kaito lunged from behind the cover, not to run away, but to rush toward Aoko. His goal was to seize the gun. A distance of five meters, at his speed, would only take two seconds—
"Don't come any closer!"
Aoko's voice suddenly rose, sharp and ear-piercing. She took a step back, the muzzle shaking violently, but still pointing at Kaito.
Kaito was forced to stop, the two of them less than three meters apart. He could clearly see every trace of expression on Aoko's face—that struggling, painful expression that was being forcibly suppressed by some kind of power.
"Aoko..." Kaito's voice softened as he slowly reached out both hands in a soothing gesture. "Give me the gun, okay? Let's talk. No matter what happened, we'll solve it together."
Aoko shook her head, tears suddenly gushing from her hollow eyes, but her finger remained on the trigger.
"You don't understand..." she choked out, her voice breaking. "I... I can't go back anymore..."
"There's nothing you can't go back from!" Kaito said firmly, taking another small step forward. "Give me the gun, Aoko. Please."
At that moment, the look in Aoko's eyes suddenly changed. All the struggle and pain vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, almost mechanical resolve. Her finger tightened—
Kaito saw the movement of her finger and dove to the side almost simultaneously.
Bang!
This shot was extremely accurate; if Kaito hadn't sensed it in advance, the bullet would likely have hit his chest. Even so, the bullet grazed his right arm, trailing a string of blood droplets.
The pain made Kaito grunt, but he didn't stop. Using the momentum of his dive, he performed several consecutive rolls and hid behind a distribution box on the other side of the alley.
"Aoko! Stop!" he shouted breathlessly, tearing off a piece of his shirt sleeve to roughly bandage the wound. "You're being controlled! Wake up!"
There was no answer. Only footsteps—steady, continuous footsteps—approaching him.
Kaito's heart sank. He realized that words could no longer wake the current Aoko. He needed to escape, he needed to find help, he needed to find a way to save her—but not now, and not here.
He looked around. Both ends of the alley were blocked—Aoko was on one side, and the other side was a dead end. The only way out was to climb the nearby fire escape, or... his gaze fell on a manhole cover not far away.
The footsteps grew closer.
Kaito took a deep breath, timed it right, and just as Aoko was about to round the distribution box, he slammed a nearby trash can toward her while simultaneously rushing in the opposite direction.
Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out behind him. Kaito didn't look back, sprinting with all his might toward the manhole cover. He pulled out his multi-tool knife, pried open the cover, and before Aoko could aim again, he leaped down.
Darkness and damp air enveloped him. Kaito landed stumbling in the sewer and quickly rolled to the side, avoiding any bullets that might be fired through the opening.
But no shots were fired.
He looked up and saw a small patch of sky from the opening, along with Aoko's face looking down. The distance was too great for him to see her expression clearly; he only saw her silhouette and the gun she was still holding.
Then, the manhole cover was replaced.
Darkness fell completely.
Kaito leaned against the damp wall, gasping for breath, the wound on his arm throbbing with pain. But his heart hurt even more. Aoko... the Aoko who always angrily chased him around but would always stand by his side when he needed her, had actually tried to kill him just now.
And the most terrifying part was that in certain moments when she pulled the trigger, Kaito saw the pain in her eyes. She knew what she was doing, but she couldn't stop.
"Kanjuro..." Kaito spat out the name through gritted teeth, his fist slamming heavily against the wall.
He had to stop all of this. He had to save Aoko. He had to defeat that demon.
But before that, he needed to survive. He needed to find Inspector Nakamori. He needed to tell them that the situation was far worse than they had imagined.
Aoko was no longer on their side.
Or rather, Aoko was no longer the same Aoko.
Kaito fumbled his way forward in the darkness, every step feeling incredibly heavy. The gunshots in the alley and Aoko's hollow eyes wouldn't leave his mind. He knew that from now on, everything was different.
The war had begun.
And he needed to win.
Not just for himself.
But more so to save the girl who once had a bright smile but was now pointing a gun at him. Sewer water mixed with blood, soaking into Kaito's pant legs. The stinging pain of the gunshot wound on his arm was far less sharp than the cold despair in his heart. Aoko's hollow and resolute eyes were branded onto his retinas like a nightmare, impossible to shake off. He leaned against the damp, cold wall, gasping for a long time until the street outside returned to complete silence.
He knew he couldn't hesitate any longer.
Conventional confrontation and intellectual maneuvering were like child's play in the face of Kanjuro's power that transcended common sense and his methods of completely twisting human hearts. Aoko's "transformation" was the bloodiest proof. That man didn't care about rules or morality; he only cared about control and destruction.
Dragging his injured body, Kaito returned to one of his hidden safe houses. He opened a long-sealed metal box. Inside were not Kaitou Kid's flamboyant magic props or specialized card guns, but a well-maintained black handgun and several boxes of live ammunition. This was something he, as the son of Kuroba Toichi, had prepared for the most extreme circumstances after his father's mysterious disappearance, never thinking he would actually use it.
But today was the most extreme circumstance.
He carefully put away the card gun, as if saying goodbye to a certain past version of himself. Then, he picked up the heavy real gun, the cold, hard sensation transmitting from his palm with the scent of death. He pressed the bullets in one by one, his movements slow and steady. In the mirror, the youth's former playfulness and nimble cleverness had vanished from his eyes, leaving only a cold killing intent of one who had burned his bridges and a bottomless exhaustion.
Target: Kanjuro's Castle.
No calling card, no flashy entrance. Kaito moved like a silent shadow, using his familiarity with Tokyo's streets and his still-sharp skills to avoid any potential lookouts, sneaking toward that dark Mansion looming in the city's shadows. With every step closer, the sense of oppression in the air grew, as if the building itself were a living, light-devouring monster.
When he finally crossed the courtyard still lingering with a faint scent of blood, stepped over the uncleaned mess, and stood before the gaping main doors of the Mansion—like the mouth of a giant beast—what came from inside was not a prepared killing intent, but a... bizarre tranquility, even carrying a hint of leisure.
Kaito gripped the gun in his hand, took a deep breath, and suddenly charged inside!
The sight of the dazzlingly luxurious hall came into view, but Kaito's gaze instantly froze at the far end.
Kanjuro still sat on that ornate, throne-like couch, his posture lazy. Around him were gathered the women Kaito was either familiar with or a stranger to—Tomoko Suzuki, Ayako, Sonoko, Eri Kisaki, Ran, Miyano Elena, Akemi, Haibara Ai... They sat or stood with varying expressions: some numb, some complex, and some even with a bizarre calm. They formed a twisted "family" portrait with Kanjuro at its core.
And at Kanjuro's feet, kneeling like a docile pet, was Koizumi Akako, her eyes dim and completely devoid of her former radiance.
What made Kaito's heart stop most of all was that Aoko was standing slightly behind and to the side of Kanjuro's throne, still holding that gun, looking at him with hollow eyes as if looking at a stranger.
"Kanjuro—!!" The string of Kaito's sanity snapped instantly, and all his anger, pain, confusion, and killing intent merged into a hoarse roar, "You lunatic!! What did you do to Aoko?! You controlled her to kill me?! What have you turned her into?!"
Kanjuro wasn't the least bit surprised by Kaito's intrusion and roar. He didn't even change his sitting position, merely lifting his eyelids slowly to sweep his bottomless eyes over Kaito and the gun pointed at him, a contemptuous arc curling at the corner of his mouth.
"Control?" Kanjuro's voice was terrifyingly steady. "No, you're wrong, Kaito Kuroba. I never 'controlled' Aoko. I simply... let her see the truth and make a choice."
He tilted his head slightly toward Aoko behind him, his tone carrying a spine-chilling "affection": "Isn't that right, Aoko? You're following Papa's arrangements of your own free will, aren't you?"
Aoko's body trembled almost imperceptibly, but her gaze remained hollow. Her lips quivered, producing a dry voice: "...Yes, Papa."
"You see," Kanjuro turned back, spreading his hands as if showcasing a perfect masterpiece, "this is her free will. Your so-called 'control' is just your inability to accept that she chose a stronger, more real home."
"Bullshit!!" Kaito's eyes were bloodshot, and the muzzle of his gun trembled violently. "Your twisted logic! You demon!! I today am going to—"
His words cut off abruptly because he saw that Kanjuro didn't even take a defensive posture, just looked at him leisurely, his eyes saying: Go ahead and try.
Consumed by utter rage and despair, Kaito no longer hesitated and pulled the trigger!
"Bang—!!"
The deafening gunshot rang out again, fire spitting from the muzzle, the bullet spinning and tearing through the air toward Kanjuro's heart!
However, at the very moment the bullet was about to hit its target—
Koizumi Akako, who had been quietly kneeling at Kanjuro's feet, didn't even fully look up; she just casually raised her left hand. A complex crimson magic circle instantly lit up in her palm, its light flashing and vanishing!
That lethal bullet, just half a foot away from Kanjuro's chest, seemed to hit an invisible and tough wall, letting out a crisp "ding"! Immediately after, the bullet reflected back with even greater speed along a bizarre arc!
Kaito's pupils shrank. Relying almost entirely on Kaitou Kid's well-honed reflexes, he lunged to the side!
"Puchi!"
The reflected bullet grazed his cheek, taking a lock of hair and a thin line of blood with it, before embedding itself deep into the wall behind him.
Kaito rolled onto the ground in a sorry state, his face stinging, but the shock in his heart was even greater than the pain. Akako! Even her... Kanjuro slowly stood up, strolled over to Koizumi Akako, who was still kneeling on one knee in a casting posture, and reached out to gently pat her head, like rewarding a loyal dog.
Then, he looked down at Kaito on the floor, not even bothering to give him a look of contempt, leaving only pure indifference, as if looking at an ant.
"Now, do you understand, Kaito Kuroba?" Kanjuro's voice rang out coldly,
"You can't even break through the defense my daughter casually set up."
"Your anger, your determination, the toy in your hand... before me, they are all meaningless."
"You simply aren't worthy of being my opponent."
He leaned down slightly, looking at the mixture of anger, shock, and total defeat in Kaito's eyes, as if enjoying the final expression of a loser.
"The game should end. However, seeing as you've given my daughters a bit of exercise..." Kanjuro straightened up, his tone as casual as deciding on a dinner menu, "Akako, Aoko, dispose of him. Make it clean."
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