mtl008 Chapter 1325 "Reunion"
Chapter 1325 "Reunion"
Chapter 1325 "Reunion"
With Akiba Reiko's stunning performance, Fu and Takumi's plans all fell through.
His capture was inevitable, as was the success of Domoto's concert.
However, when Shinichi Kudo explained his motives for the crime to the others, the scene froze for a moment.
"So he actually understood the complete opposite?" Sonoko Suzuki, no longer caring about maintaining the dignity of being the young lady of the Suzuki family, gaped so wide you could see the edge of her lipstick. "It wasn't that he was forced to lose his job because Mr. Domoto gave up the piano; it was actually that his skill level declined, and Mr. Domoto, considering his feelings, resolutely gave up the piano?!"
She was genuinely shocked, so shocked she was speechless.
You'd think these two, partners for so many years, would have a good relationship, yet they couldn't communicate clearly about such a huge situation for two years. But you could also say their relationship was bad—one gave up a career of over thirty years for the other, and the other, feeling betrayed and dejected, turned so dark that he wanted to blow up two thousand people.
This is something that could be settled with a couple of drinks, so why is this happening?
"But shouldn't he have killed for his son?" Ran Mouri pondered, somewhat doubtful. "It can't be blamed on his poor communication with Mr. Domoto—"
Sonoko Suzuki is naturally optimistic; she's probably forgotten the ordeal she suffered last time, but she hasn't.
"Indeed," Tang Ze agreed with her. "I think even without this misunderstanding, he still has a lot of problems."
The old man looked miserable when the police were escorting him away, but he didn't look like this when he sped up and drove his big truck to chase them and crash into them.
In order to complete his crazy plan and prevent Akiba Reiko from taking the stage, he resorted to such extreme measures, completely disregarding the slight technical shortcomings. This car accident could escalate to the point of causing multiple injuries or even deaths. To say that it was all just a coincidence is to say that the price of such sentimentality is far too high.
"There are definitely problems," Shinichi Kudo commented. "I think it would be better to care more about him while he was alive than to seek revenge and mourn him in this way after his death."
Thinking about this, Shinichi Kudo found the scene of Fu and Takumi being taken to the police to be rather darkly humorous.
He referred to Soma Hikaru's mother as his wife and said that Soma Hikaru was his beloved son. Their passing had affected him, which is why he was completely devastated by Domoto Kazuki's decision.
Even if we insist that he's lying, the license plate he's using does indeed have Soma Hikaru's birthdate. It's not easy to spend money and effort to acquire such a memorable license plate, which seems to support his point of view.
However, Akiba Reiko, who had been in love with Soma Hikaru for many years and was about to get married, did not recognize the old man who almost became her "father," which reflects another aspect of her life.
Regardless of why he didn't get married or openly be with Soma Hikaru's mother, he was absent from Soma Hikaru's life. His lack of care and attention could even be said to be indirectly related to Soma Hikaru's death.
If you had known earlier that Soma Hikaru's father was Domoto Kazuki's sound engineer, you wouldn't even need to be so direct. If you could just let them know that you valued Soma Hikaru and cared about his movements, those four bastards wouldn't dare to bully someone with connections.
Expressing love verbally and in one's heart is enough to move oneself, but to call it love for others is to do a disservice to love itself.
"Of course." Sonoko Suzuki pouted and grabbed Ran Mouri's arm. "And it's really strange, isn't it? If my best friend did this, I would only worry about whether she was going through some kind of trouble. How could I think she was trying to abandon me? If she knew how much this decision would affect me, I would immediately realize that she did it for me."
"Sonoko—" Ran Mouri patted her sheepishly, but still agreed with her assessment. "Yeah. If this decision would only affect me, I probably wouldn't have sought other people's opinions. But he's been Mr. Domoto Ikki's sound engineer for so many years. Such a good friend of his, knowing it would affect me, still insists on changing his life plans—that's definitely a problem—"
It's not very polite to say certain things to an elderly person, so both of them kept their words to themselves.
These accusations and excuses seem reasonable at first glance, but upon closer examination, they are not quite valid. Either they are not close friends, or Pu and Jiang were simply more concerned with their own feelings.
Selfishness is not a problem, but it's awkward to find so many other reasons to cover it up.
"That's so cheesy." Hattori Heiji glanced at Kudo Shinichi, stirring up trouble. "I feel like their relationship is much closer than theirs with you."
"How can that be the same?" Shinichi Kudo rolled his eyes at him. "The three of us have known each other for many years, and it's always been like this."
"That sounds like she's jealous—"
"What nonsense are you spouting—"
'
As the two were whispering together, Shinichi Kudo caught a familiar shadow out of the corner of his eye. His gaze instinctively followed it, but unexpectedly, he spotted two people walking together that seemed very mismatched.
Are those——Goro Akechi and Yusuke Kitagawa? Um?
"Just watching you work makes me feel tired." Without Kisaragi Minami by his side, Kuroba Kaito, though still maintaining his physique, spoke in a much more relaxed tone. "Don't you feel tired working for your boss like this?"
The entire Phantom Thieves group entered the venue openly under their own identities, and it was a collaborative idea that they replaced the prepared explosion spots with fireworks.
Supporting Kyosuke Haga, acting as his fairy godmother, and attending some serious, high-end concerts are all part of the group activities, enriching my life experience.
However, among all these fake identities, the pressure faced by Goro Akechi, the real celebrity, is quite different.
He had to engage in social interactions befitting a detective, and he was equally busy with his duties as a member of the organization. Moreover, it wasn't entirely uncommon for celebrities to know that he was actually the illegitimate son of a politician.
Throughout the entire concert, if it weren't for the restrictions on moving around during the performance, Hoshikawa Teru would probably have been talking non-stop.
It's one thing to let Tang Ze do this, but to hand it over to Xingchuan Hui is a bit cruel.
"So what if I'm tired? Comfort is for the dead." Hoshikawa Teru first quoted a capitalist saying from Tang Ze, then added, "There's nothing I can do about it. I have a lot to do lately."
The issues of the score and the craftsman have been resolved, and dealing with Akiba Reiko was just a side matter. What he really needs to be busy with is still Vermouth's matter.
Tang Ze's plan is almost complete. To get Rum's health bar down to the kill threshold as soon as possible, he will need Vermouth's assistance.
His real purpose for coming today was to document his interactions with women resembling those from Curaçao in social settings, in preparation for future communication.
To gain Vermouth's approval of Tang Ze's unconventional ideas and convince her that Curaçao is controllable is a crucial step.
"That sounds terrifying." Kaito Kuroba's lips twitched slightly. "Is this a symptom that everyone who joins will get?"
He had met quite a few members of the Phantom Thieves before, and at first he thought they were all normal people, with only occasional quirks in their thinking. How come they started to seem so out of place as time went on?
"I wasn't planning on inviting you," Hoshikawa Teru stated bluntly.
"Then why don't you have your boss kick me out of the group first—"
"Why don't you just return it yourself?"
"Haven't I quit? Haven't I quit?! What kind of administrators are you Phantom Thieves? Do you even know what to do? You're like ghosts, what can I do?!"
Before the two could say anything more, two hands suddenly reached out from behind, one on each shoulder, stopping them from continuing the conversation.
"Alright, this kind of thing isn't suitable to say in public. Plotting loudly is easy to expose." Tang Ze pointedly remarked, noticing the tarot symbols gradually approaching on the map.
Kaito Kuroba glanced at him, somewhat speechless: "You went to change your clothes just for a few steps?"
0
Tang Ze was dressed in a black trench coat, the hood completely covering his white head; he had deliberately switched to the Joker mode.
The state then returned.
"A man who does not plan for the future will have trouble in the present. That's called having a sense of crisis." Tang Ze was too lazy to argue with this guy who was equally relentless once he started to argue, so he shoved the things in his hand into his. "Alright, here's your payment. You've worked hard tonight."
Kaito Kuroba is here to be his mercenary, so he should be paid the due compensation.
Kaito Kuroba, who had received many similar items from Tang Ze before, was not surprised to find a crystal in his hand. However, the fact that there was also a small metal object this time was somewhat unexpected.
"Is this also an alloy?" He picked up the small golden trumpet and examined it closely. "It's quite exquisite."
"Concert merchandise. I think so, I'll give it to you to think about." Tang Ze nodded.
Anyway, Kaito Kuroba just wanted to find clues about Toichi Kuroba's disappearance. He didn't really want to do anything with X-alloy. It's not worth using. Even if he uses it, it will eventually return to the Phantom Thieves. It's just sharing experimental materials.
On the contrary, Hoshikawa Teru, who was standing next to him, raised his eyebrows considerably when he saw this thing.
This is clearly a manifestation of Reiko Akiba's "wish," and according to everyone's imagined process, it should be an unfulfilled wish. Although it doesn't affect anything, it's still being sent out like this—
Tang Ze gave him a wink, but didn't say anything more.
Hoshikawa Teru understood and said no more, simply activating his ability silently.
The three people moved forward with the flow of people leaving the venue and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
So, was this "wish" fulfilled or not?
"I don't know. But since no egg fell out, let's just consider it a success."
"So, this is because Miss Akiba's wish is not to bring Soma Hikaru back to life?"
"Of course. I already said, Mr. Amuro is a genius, and there are also many coincidences involved. It would be too much to ask someone who knows nothing about this to wish for their deceased lover to be reborn in the midst of an immersive performance."
"So, what exactly is her wish?"
Tang Ze was recalling this moment when the people in front of him stopped.
His gaze followed forward and landed on Akiba Reiko, who was leading the group.
"Huh? Ms. Akiba, did you often practice here?" Ran Mouri asked in surprise. "How amazing—"
Ran Mouri and Shinichi Kudo, realizing that they had heard her singing three years ago, naturally told Reiko Akiba about this miraculous encounter. So, on their way back from taking statements, they passed by this embankment and the three of them suggested that they come and take a look.
"Yes, when Hikaru was still here, we often came here for dates." Akiba Reiko smiled. "Maybe this is what they call fate."
Stepping out of the spotlight, she was still wearing that simple tracksuit, a baseball cap covering half her face, and a fisherman-style crossbody bag and jacket, looking like an ordinary gym-goer, with no trace of the radiant beauty of the previous night.