Conan: Becoming the Boss Starting with Winning Over Ran

Page 31

After a moment of silence, Makoto Asai looked at Yu Hoshimiya, then at Ran, composed himself, and began to speak slowly.

"After parting ways with you, I ambushed Kuroiwa Tatsuji on his way home, not far from his house, and killed him..."

After a pause, Makoto Asai turned his head away, trying to avoid Ran and Hoshimiya's scrutinizing gazes, and slowly said, "After completing my revenge, I went to the community center, found gasoline in a nearby warehouse, and then..."

Makoto Asai couldn't continue speaking.

Even without him saying it, Hoshigumi Yu already knew the truth; he was just confirming it now.

Xiao Lan, on the other hand, had her beautiful eyes completely dimmed.

She didn't know that Makoto Asai had actually been planning to commit suicide, and Yu Hoshimiya didn't have time to explain it to her.

But she has a keen intuition and is very empathetic.

But from the behavior of Hoshimiya Hayao and Asai Makoto, she already had some guesses.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have clung to Makoto Asai so tightly before.

She had initially held onto a sliver of hope that the fire was an accident.

But Asai's honest answer extinguished even that glimmer of hope.

"Honest Sister, why did you commit suicide?"

A dejected Xiaolan couldn't help but question, "Didn't we agree that you would turn yourself in after the revenge was over, and we would get back together after you got out..."

Xiaolan's voice grew softer as she spoke; she was just naive, not stupid.

By the time Asai Makoto emerged, everything had changed.

This promise is just a beautiful wish that is destined to never be fulfilled.

Makoto Asai looked at Ran with some apology, "I'm sorry, I broke my promise. I think it's better to reunite with my family in the flames than to go to jail."

Hoshino Yu raised an eyebrow and asked, "So if you don't have to go to jail, will you stop trying to kill yourself?"

043 Night Talk

"Maybe……"

Asai Makoto shrugged, intending to brush off the topic.

I don't want to bring up those thoughts again after committing suicide; it would not only seem pretentious, but also extremely embarrassing.

However, her thoughts were misunderstood by Xiaolan, who was standing next to her.

Ever since she learned of Asai Makoto's thoughts at noon, she had been in a state of inner struggle.

The conflict between reality and ideals, the contradiction between reason and emotion.

It's like two little people are fighting in my mind, one a little angel and the other a little devil.

The little angel upholds absolute justice, regardless of any objective factors; human life is above all else.

The little devil keeps persuading Ran to follow her own desires, allowing the three drug dealers to be killed, sympathizing with Asai Makoto, and even helping Asai Makoto.

Even now, the little devil and the little angel have not been able to determine a winner.

Outwardly, this means that Xiaolan didn't interfere in anything.

While verbally agreeing with Hoshimiya Hayao and Asai Makoto, she was still thinking about calling the police.

They considered calling the police, but even though they knew someone had died, they didn't take any action.

But the moment Asai Makoto uttered those words, the little devil launched a sneak attack, rendering the angel Ran unable to rise again.

Because of her so-called justice, she almost killed Makoto Asai.

Is this kind of justice truly justice?

Everyone has their own definition of justice.

For Makoto Asai, revenge is justice.

Putting herself in Asai Makoto's shoes, Ran asked herself honestly, and she didn't think the other person had done anything wrong.

The smug little devil and the fallen little angel slowly dissipated together.

At this moment, Xiaolan began to realize her true thoughts.

Good people should be protected, and bad people should be punished.

If the law can't do it, then she won't care about the lives of bad people anymore, let alone risk the lives of good people for it.

This is the justice she wants.

This path is not easy; the ambiguous and vague concept of justice is not easy to uphold, and a single misstep could even lead to putting the cart before the horse.

But we can't give up just because it's difficult.

Choosing a one-size-fits-all approach is easy, just like how Shinichi Kudo would use any means necessary to solve a case.

Eavesdropping, tracking, fraud, unauthorized intrusion...

They talk all day about cracking down on criminals, but never mention their own criminal behavior.

This is not the justice that Xiaolan wants.

"It's all my fault... If I hadn't insisted that Honest Sister turn herself in, this wouldn't have happened... Honest Sister, don't turn yourself in, come back to Tokyo with us, let's go eat ice cream together, let's go to the amusement park together..."

Xiao Lan covered her face with her hands, filled with self-reproach, and said in a tearful voice.

Makoto Asai was stunned for a moment, and after realizing what had happened, he looked embarrassed.

In the end, she couldn't bear to see Xiaolan so heartbroken, so she swallowed her shyness and told her the truth.

"Xiaolan, don't be like this. Actually, I want to commit suicide... cough cough, it has nothing to do with you."

Makoto Asai took Ran's hand, looked at the girl's pretty face covered with tears, and said somewhat embarrassedly.

"Mainly, after completing my revenge, I suddenly felt a void inside, and I felt that life had no meaning..."

Makoto Asai had a complicated life experience before, and she was also quite emotional. After completing her revenge, she suddenly lost her purpose in life.

Thinking that his hands were also stained with blood, he impulsively decided that it would be better to set himself on fire and reunite with his family than to go to jail.

Leaving in this way not only avoids the stigma of being a murderer, but may also give one the chance to be remembered forever.

Tragedy is often more unforgettable than comedy, and regret is always more memorable than satisfaction.

Hoshigumi Yu understood this principle, but he did not want such tragedy and regret to happen to himself or those around him.

It doesn't matter if I'm not remembered, as long as I'm happy.

When Hoshimiya Yu carried Asai Makoto on her back in the fire, it was clear from her actions that she didn't actually want to die.

More than anything, it's a kind of lifeless loneliness.

"really?"

After hearing Asai's honest explanation, Ran felt a little better, but she still asked with concern.

Asai Honest's pretty face flushed crimson; he was too shy to voice his true feelings.

But when she met Xiaolan's concerned gaze, she honestly replied, "Really."

"So, Honest Sister, you're not thinking of doing anything rash now, are you?" Xiao Lan felt less guilty, but she was still worried.

This time, Hoshiguma Yu acted swiftly and decisively, but what about next time?

If Asai Makoto doesn't change his mind, it's impossible to keep him under constant surveillance 24/7.

"Don't worry, Xiaolan."

Asai said honestly and earnestly, "Mr. Hoshimiya risked so much to save me. Even if not for myself, I will live well for Mr. Hoshimiya."

"Yeah, that's good."

Ran was happy for Asai Masato, but something about what he said sounded a little off, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Seeing that Ran had resolved her inner conflict, Asai Makoto stammered, "Ran... um... does what you just said still count?"

"Which one?" Xiaolan asked, wiping away her tears, looking puzzled.

"It's that... you don't need to turn yourself in..."

Asai Makoto was somewhat embarrassed.

It's really unreasonable to go back on your word after just making a promise.

But if she could, she really wouldn't want to go to jail.

If she could accept going to prison, even if she lost her purpose in life and felt that life was meaningless, she would not have decisively chosen to self-immolate.

"No need." Xiaolan shook her head seriously. "I'll just pretend I don't know anything about it."

She has found her own sense of justice, and she said this from the bottom of her heart.

"That's great!"

Makoto Asai excitedly got up to change his clothes.

Ran immediately covered Hoshimiya Yu's eyes with her hands and said angrily, "Hoshimiya-nii-san, you're still looking!"

"Hahaha."

Asai Makoto, who had just taken off his nightgown, laughed and said, "What does it matter? I have underwear underneath anyway."

"Honest Sister..."

Ran felt helpless; Asai's honesty made her seem petty.

She lowered her hands, glared at Xing Gongyu, hoping he would behave himself.

Hoshigumi Yu touched her nose, pretending not to see it.

As he admired Asai Makoto's sexy, fair body, he noticed that the other man had changed into clothes for going out and asked him a question.

"What are you planning to do so late?"

"I'll go and process the evidence and clues."

Asai Makoto turned his head away somewhat embarrassedly and whispered, "I thought everything was over, so Kuroiwa Tatsuji still had my scalpel stuck in his body, with my fingerprints on it."

She didn't mention Kawashima and Nishimoto; she handled those two cases swiftly and decisively, leaving little trace.

The key issue is that there isn't enough time to process everything.

The fire at the community center burned brighter and brighter, and almost all the villagers got up.

The crowd at the community center was growing larger and larger, and someone might pass by at any time on the path where Kuroiwa Tatsuji's body was.

Perhaps they have already been discovered by now.

Even if there's only a sliver of hope, she wants to see it.

"No need to go."

Hoshimiya Yu pinched the bridge of her nose and whispered under the curious gazes of Asai Makoto and Ran, "I already took care of you while you were taking a shower."

044 Night Talk

Hoshimiya Yu had never intended for Asai Makoto to go to jail; she had considered this when she had her destroy the clothes.

He didn't know the exact location of Kuroiwa Tatsuji's death, but it was either at home or on the road.

Following the direction where Reiko Kuroiwa had left, they quickly found Tatsuji Kuroiwa, who lay dead with his eyes wide open.

After pulling out the scalpel, he also damaged Kuroiwa Tatsuji's wound.

Unlike Nishimoto, whose throat was slit, Kuroiwa Tatsuji had a very obvious wound on his heart.

If nothing is done, unless all the Japanese police are idiots, they will definitely discover that the murder weapon is a scalpel.

Therefore, Asai Masato will certainly be suspected.

Other traces don't matter; not everyone knows how to preserve the crime scene.

On the contrary, more people enjoy watching the excitement.

If anyone discovers Kuroiwa Tatsuji, the existing structure will definitely be destroyed.

After finishing talking about Kuroiwa Tatsuji, Hoshimiya Yu also brought up the matter of Kawashima and Nishimoto.