Kaito looked at her red-rimmed eyes and the thorns she had put up all over her body. He pursed his lips and finally swallowed the rest of his words. He put away his joking expression, gave Aoko a deep look, and didn't pester her further, silently returning to his seat. But in his blue eyes, which always sparkled with cunning light, there was now a layer of worry and thoughtful gloom.
Aoko knew she was being unreasonable; Kaito didn't know anything at all. But she couldn't control herself. That dream was like a poison thorn stuck in her heart, making everything look suspicious, preventing her from being calm, and making her want to push away everyone who came near.
Trapped between the dream-lies woven by Kanjuro and the evasive reality of her adoptive father, she felt unprecedentedly lonely and angry. And the culprit behind all this didn't even need to show his face to make her life veer off course and fall into a whirlpool of chaos. When the school bell rang, she was almost the first to rush out of the classroom, wanting only to escape all this, yet not knowing where to flee.
Troubled by the dream and thoroughly enraged by her father's vague attitude, a sense of desperate courage grew within Nakamori Aoko. She could no longer bear the feeling of being kept in the dark; that dream about Kanjuro and Eri Kisaki haunted her day and night like a ghost. She made an extremely dangerous decision—she would go find Kanjuro herself and ask that demon for the truth! Ask about her birth, and ask why he was torturing her spirit like this!
Once this thought arose, it grew wildly like weeds. Taking advantage of Nakamori Ginzo going to work at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, she snuck out of the house and ran toward the direction of the Suzuki Family Mansion where news reports mentioned Kanjuro was currently staying. Her heart drummed in her chest, filled with both fear and a sense of reckless determination.
However, she hadn't run far from the apartment building when two familiar figures suddenly appeared as if from the sky and blocked her path!
"Aoko! Where are you going?!" Nakamori Ginzo's voice rang out, filled with shock and anger. He had clearly been notified by a neighbor or an informant and had abandoned his work at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department to rush back. His face was no longer his usual simple-minded self, but filled with unprecedented sternness and... fear.
Almost at the same time, Kaito Kuroba also rushed out from a side alley and grabbed Aoko's wrist. His grip was firm, and his blue eyes were filled with disapproval and deep concern: "Aoko! Don't do anything stupid! You can't go there!"
"Let go of me! Let go!" Aoko struggled like a trapped small animal, her tears flowing uncontrollably. "I'm going to ask and find out! I want to know the truth! What right do you have to stop me?! What right do you have to keep me from knowing who I am?!"
She tried hard to shake off Kaito's hand and push away her father, but how could a girl break free from the strength of Nakamori Ginzo as a policeman and the far-beyond-normal agility and strength of Kaito (secretly Kaitou Kid)?
"There is no truth! You are my daughter! I won't let you go to your death!" Nakamori Ginzo was almost roaring. His thick arms clamped onto Aoko's shoulders like iron pincers, forcibly dragging her back toward home.
"Aoko, listen! It's too dangerous there! Kanjuro is not someone you can face!" Kaito also tightly held her other arm, his voice urgent and low, trying to use reason to convince her, but deep in his eyes was extreme anxiety for her safety.
"Dangerous? What danger is more terrifying than not knowing who I am?!" Aoko cried out, her feet digging into the ground, but she couldn't stop her fate of being dragged back by the two of them.
Passersby cast surprised looks, but Nakamori Ginzo didn't care anymore; he had only one thought—he must not let his daughter get near that devil!
No matter how Aoko cried, struggled, or even used her nails to scratch, she couldn't move the two determined men. Her resistance was pale and weak against absolute strength and the forceful concern of those who loved her.
Finally, she was forcibly brought home. With red eyes and trembling hands, Nakamori Ginzo used a spare chain to lock the apartment's security door from the outside and closed and locked the window of her room from the outside.
"Until you've thought this through, you aren't going anywhere!" Nakamori Ginzo's voice came through the door, carrying suppressed pain and an unquestionable tone.
Kaito stood outside the door, listening to Aoko's desperate pounding and crying from within. His fists were clenched tight, nails digging deep into his palms. He knew Aoko's pain, but he knew Kanjuro's terror even better. Letting Aoko go to Kanjuro was no different from a sheep entering a tiger's den; she might even become a tool for Kanjuro to threaten him (Kaitou Kid) or further harm Aoko. He had to stop her, even if she hated him for it.
Inside the room, Aoko leaned against the cold door and slowly slid to the floor. Her crying gradually stopped, replaced by an icy despair and anger at being betrayed by the whole world.
She stopped pounding the door, only hugging her knees and burying her face deep.
"Why... why do you all treat me like this..." she muttered to herself, her voice hoarse. "I just want to know the truth... I just don't want to be kept in the dark anymore..."
She felt like the whole world was against her. Her father used crude imprisonment to "protect" her, and Kaito didn't understand her either, instead helping her father stop her. The more they blocked her, the more she felt they were hiding something, and the more she felt that terrifying dream might be the truth!
A sense of extreme isolation wrapped tightly around her. She no longer trusted anyone, feeling that everyone was conspiring to trap her in this cage woven of lies, preventing her from touching the potentially bloody "truth."
She was imprisoned by the people who cared for her in the most "loving" way. Yet this "love," in her cognition twisted by dreams and suspicion, became the most cruel target and persecution. Nakamori Aoko, once a sunny and cheerful girl, now had only icy ramparts and a barren anger left in her heart. She didn't know that the true danger didn't come from the "truth" she longed to explore, but from the manipulator far away in the Mansion who had already stretched his demonic claws into her dreams.
After forcibly sending Nakamori Aoko home and confirming she was temporarily under "house arrest" by Inspector Nakamori, Kaito Kuroba's mood didn't lighten in the slightest; instead, it became even heavier. Aoko's state worried him, and the massive mountain that was Kanjuro looming ahead gave him unprecedented pressure. Conventional methods clearly couldn't oppose such an inhuman existence; he needed unconventional power.
At this moment, the figure of a classmate surfaced in his mind—Koizumi Akako, who always wore a mysterious smile, called herself the 'Rightful Heir of Scarlet Magic,' and whose every action exuded an eerie and extraordinary aura.
After school, Kaito didn't go straight home or prepare for his 'Kaitou activities' as usual. Instead, he intercepted Koizumi Akako on the school rooftop, a relatively secluded spot, just as she was about to leave.
"Akako, wait a moment." Kaito had put away his usual cynical demeanor; his expression was uncharacteristically serious and... held a trace of imperceptible earnestness.
Koizumi Akako stopped in her tracks and turned around. She was wearing an exquisite school uniform, and her long red hair glowed like a burning flame in the setting sun. That mysterious smile, as if she saw through everything, still hung on the corners of her mouth. "Oh? What a rare guest, Kuroba-kun. What brings you to me? Could it be that you've finally come to your senses and are ready to fall for my charms?" she teased habitually in a seductive tone.
Kaito ignored her teasing, took a deep breath, and looked her straight in the eye: "Akako, I know you're... not an ordinary person. I'm in trouble, an extremely... unconventional kind of trouble. I need your help."
The smile on Koizumi Akako's face faded slightly, and a flicker of interest flashed in her ruby-like eyes: "To have the famous Kaitou Kid come to me for help so solemnly, I'm actually a bit curious. Tell me about it."
Kaito hid nothing, concisely telling Akako about Kanjuro's existence, the inhuman power he displayed, his control over the Suzuki Family, his erosion of Aoko's spirit, and his own determination to oppose him. He omitted the specific details of himself being Kid, but with Akako's intelligence, she was naturally well aware.
After listening to Kaito's narration, Koizumi Akako crossed her arms, her fingers lightly tapping her arm as she fell into a brief contemplation. The flippancy on her face completely vanished, replaced by a solemn expression.
"Kanjuro... I have indeed heard this name in some ancient records and rumors of the 'Inner World'." She spoke slowly, her voice carrying a hint of wariness. "Rumor has it that what he possesses is more than just power beyond ordinary people. It's more like a kind of... 'Black Magic' originating from an ancient abyss—evil, overbearing, capable of killing invisibly, controlling minds, and even distorting reality."
She looked at Kaito with sharp eyes: "What you are dealing with is not just a powerful opponent, but a walking calamity, a living curse. His power level is likely far beyond your or my imagination. Even for me, dealing with him is by no means easy, and might even... require a significant price."
Kaito's heart sank, but he did not back down, his gaze remaining firm: "I know it's dangerous, but I have no other choice. I can't just stand by and watch him do as he pleases and hurt the people I care about."
Koizumi Akako looked at the unwavering determination in Kaito's eyes and was silent for a moment. Although she and Kaito were always at odds and teased each other, deep down, she recognized this opponent's talent and... in a sense, his purity. The responsibility he showed now to protect others moved her slightly.
Finally, she sighed softly, and that mysterious smile returned to her face, but this time, the smile held a bit more seriousness and a sense of eager challenge.
"Alright, Kaito Kuroba." She lifted her chin, speaking with her characteristic arrogance, "Seeing as you've rarely been so humble in asking me, and seeing as that 'Mr. Kanjuro' seems like a very interesting 'research subject'..."
She took a step forward, and an invisible aura seemed to spread around her. Her red eyes flickered with a demonic brilliance in the sunset.
"This favor, I, Koizumi Akako, will reluctantly... try to help with."
Her promise was like a heavy weight representing mystery and the unknown cast onto the dark scales against Kanjuro. With Kaitou Kid's ingenuity and magic combined with the mysterious power of the Scarlet Magic heir, this seemingly unequal duel finally seemed to have a subtle variable.
In the early morning, on the tree-lined path leading to Sobu High School, sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled spots of light. Kanjuro, the'student' whose appearance forever remained at eighteen, was walking toward the school with a lazy and composed pace as usual. To him, going to school was just a pastime in his long life to observe the world and occasionally find some 'fun'."
Just then, his gaze was firmly attracted by a figure not far ahead.
It was a slender young girl wearing a uniform from a different school. Her long, purplish-red hair, like a burning flame, flowed with a mysterious luster in the morning light. She had her back to him, seemingly waiting for something. Just her back alone exuded a unique aura—a mix of demonic charm and noble temperament.
The corners of Kanjuro's mouth habitually curled into an interested arc. Beautiful women always caught his attention, and this one before him was clearly extraordinary.
As if sensing his undisguised gaze, the girl slowly turned around.
In an instant, it was as if the surrounding clamor had come to a standstill.
She possessed a face as exquisite as a doll's, with skin as white as snow. Most striking were those eyes, as brilliant as rubies and carrying a demonic temptation. She looked at Kanjuro with a mysterious and arrogant smile, as if she had expected him.
"Are you Kanjuro?" Her voice was crisp, with a strange sense of rhythm.
However, the moment he saw her face clearly, the playful smile on Kanjuro's face suddenly froze! In his eyes, which were always deep and calm, a rare and extremely intense flash of shock and... reminiscence flickered!
This face... this long purplish-red hair... this unique temperament... a name buried deep in his memory from eighteen years ago suddenly became clear, as if lightning had split the mist—Aozaki Sakuya!
She was the most outstanding daughter of that generation of the Aozaki Family, a woman who also possessed an extraordinary temperament and a bloodline of mysterious power. He remembered that on a night shrouded in darkness eighteen years ago, in the Sacred Scripture Academy Basement... he had been with that woman, along with over a hundred other women. That was a chaotic and dark 'feast' during the early period after he obtained the power of the dark bible.
And now, the face of the young girl before him was actually seventy percent similar to the face of Aozaki Sakuya in his memory! Especially those ruby-like eyes and that unique demonic charm between her brows; they were almost identical!
What shook Kanjuro's mind even more was that, through his perception of the origin of life—which was extremely keen due to the dark bible—he clearly felt a weak but incredibly distinct connection from this girl that resonated with his own bloodline!
This connection was identical to what he felt from the Miyano sisters, the Suzuki sisters, and Ai Haibara (Shiho), and it was even more prominent because of the peculiar magic the girl herself contained!
She is... his daughter?!
His and Aozaki Sakuya's daughter?!
This realization caused an extremely complex light to flash in Kanjuro's eyes—surprise, amusement, and an even deeper interest, like discovering a 'rare collectible'."
He suppressed the waves in his heart, regained his lazy and wicked posture, and slowly walked up to Koizumi Akako. His gaze roamed over her without reservation, as if admiring a long-lost treasure.
"That's right, I am Kanjuro." His voice carried a hint of strange magnetism. "However, wouldn't it be more polite to introduce yourself before asking for someone else's name? Especially... for such a special lady."
He paused deliberately, his gaze looking deep into her ruby-like eyes as if to see into the depths of her soul, the corners of his mouth curling into a meaningful arc.
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