When Akikawa Kyousuke woke up again, he discovered that he was already in the hospital room.
The sensation of a headache and dizziness still lingered in his mind. Though his body remained weak, it was better than before.
Akikawa Kyousuke sat up with difficulty, leaned against the head of the bed, and tried to organize the last memories in his mind.
Eyes as blue as the sky, short black hair, and a messy fringe on his forehead.
He wore a dark blue suit and light blue shorts, large round black glasses that covered almost half his face, and a red bow tie around his neck.
——This appearance was one that anyone who had lived in Akikawa Kyousuke's previous life would be unfamiliar with.
"Remember, I met a Shinigami elementary school student."
Akikawa Kyousuke couldn't help but place his hand on his forehead.
Originally, he thought he had just traveled to Japan, but he hadn't expected to travel to Japan, where there was an elementary school student Shinigami.
Akikawa Kyousuke had never seen "Detective Conan," and his understanding of the animation was only superficial.
But still.
Akikawa Kyousuke had heard of Edogawa Conan's vast knowledge reserve and reasoning abilities, which were comparable to those of a computer.
Akikawa Kyousuke was convinced,
As long as he had any connection with this elementary school student, the peaceful and stable life he hoped for would be nothing more than a mirage.
It could even jeopardize his life!
Presumably, everyone who had heard of the Shinigami student's name would avoid him.
But right now, after covering up the traces of the crime, I found myself in front of the Shinigami elementary school student as the number one suspect!
The reason Conan followed him into the ambulance was clear.
He must have been doubting himself.
But the terrible thing was that I hadn't stayed awake the entire time, so I didn't know how much I had exposed.
"To what extent was I exposed, and how much was he aware of?"
Akikawa Kyousuke, who had always had considerable confidence in his actions, couldn't help but have doubts at this moment.
"It's true that you left the dragon's pond and entered the tiger's den again."
Of course, Akikawa Kyousuke knew that leaving the crime scene was just the first step, and it was far from the point where he could feel at ease.
As the main suspect, regardless of whether Conan existed in this world, the police would need to interrogate and investigate him.
Without the original owner's memory, surviving through the police's serial interrogations and investigations wouldn't be easy.
Now, he told himself there would be a genius detective, a child of the plane beside him, examining each of his words and actions.
In fact, if Akikawa Kyousuke wanted to escape without trouble, he had to build on a foundation.
That foundation was the presumption of innocence.
Only if the police could not present concrete evidence that he was the murderer would he be able to leave unscathed.
But as far as Akikawa Kyousuke knew, the Japanese police in the past century handled cases based on suspicion.
Although, on the surface, officials from the Metropolitan Police Department and the National Police Agency loudly proclaimed the need to rely on evidence to handle cases,
In reality, whether it was theft, robbery, or murder,
In the vast majority of cases, the police arrested people directly and condemned them without concrete evidence.
Although Akikawa Kyousuke didn't know what year it was,
Just by looking at the surroundings and facilities, Akikawa Kyousuke assumed that the era he was in now wasn't very different from his previous life.
Thus, as long as there was no conclusive evidence to prove he was the murderer, the police would have no way of condemning him.
Akikawa Kyousuke had also thought about pretending to have amnesia due to his head injury.
However, in modern medicine,
With the help of neuroimaging tools like MRI, CT scans, PET scans, and fMRI, it is possible to determine whether the areas of the brain related to memory formation and storage are damaged.
So, even if Akikawa Kyousuke really didn't remember the original owner, it would still be difficult for him to pretend to have amnesia.
"The biggest problem now is that I have very little information. Not only do I know very little about the case, but I also don't even know anything about my current situation," Akikawa Kyousuke thought to himself as he turned and pressed the nurse's call button.
After a while, a nurse wearing a white uniform entered.
"Mr. Akikawa, you're awake."
The nurse already knew Akikawa Kyousuke's identity, but still gave him a kind and gentle smile.
"So the original owner's last name is Akikawa"
Akikawa Kyousuke thought to himself and said,
"Sorry, I need to go to the bathroom."
"There's a bathroom? It's fine, I'll find someone to take you there."
The small nurse said, then turned around and left the room.
A moment later, she entered with a man who was also wearing a white nurse's uniform.
"Hello, Mr. Akikawa, let me help you to the bathroom."
"Thank you."
Akikawa Kyousuke thanked the other party softly, and with the nurse's help, he removed the electrodes connected to his body. With the nurse's support, he pushed the infusion pole and walked toward the bathroom.
"I heard that the car Mr. Akikawa was traveling in was involved in a car accident, and you were poisoned due to a carbon monoxide leak. It's really terrifying."
On the way to the bathroom, Akikawa Kyousuke heard the nurse talking to him.
The other person's tone was full of sympathy, and it seemed they were very concerned about him.
"Thank you."
Akikawa Kyousuke calmly responded to the other party's concern in a calm tone.
"As expected, the criminal police are watching me."
"They have a very high level of professionalism, and there's nothing wrong with pretending to be a nurse."
"But it's a shame that the decisive gap in temperament between a criminal police officer and ordinary citizens still exposes their identity."
Akikawa Kyousuke cursed inwardly.
Criminal police officers always have a demeanor that is hard to miss.
Criminals, or people like Akikawa Kyousuke, can usually spot their identity at a glance.
The purpose of the other party approaching him was obvious.
Akikawa Kyousuke, of course, would not show any flaws.
"But it's better that Mr. Akikawa is safe above all else. You should take good care of your health from now on."
The cold reply from Akikawa Kyousuke didn't seem to dampen the other party's enthusiasm to continue talking to him.
But this simple phrase from the detective posing as a nurse made Akikawa Kyousuke realize something was wrong.
"Take care of your health? Is that something people usually say to those injured in accidents?"
Akikawa Kyousuke moved his right hand without leaving a trace, and immediately a tearing pain emerged from his right hand.
"Obviously, my right hand has started to swell, but they haven't allowed me to receive treatment. This means there's a high probability they didn't realize my right hand was broken."
"So it's even more impossible that they think I broke my right hand on my own."
Akikawa Kyousuke dismissed the idea that the police were referring to the fracture in his right hand.
"And after a car accident, the engine gets damaged, and carbon monoxide leaks, which is also difficult to recreate artificially."
"Moreover, I nearly died from carbon monoxide poisoning. I wasn't the driver. The police shouldn't suspect that I was the one who caused the carbon monoxide leak."
He also ruled out the possibility that the detective was referring to carbon monoxide poisoning.
"That means..."
Akikawa Kyousuke lowered his head slightly and squinted his eyes.
"The police have determined that the original owner committed suicide."
(End of Chapter)
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