Just as Vermouth hesitated, the defiance on her face wavering and her teeth edging toward the towel tied around her wrist, she heard footsteps approaching. Jiangxia Tongzhi had returned.
"…"
She stiffened slightly.
Her brain instantly flashed through her inventory of poisons, drugs, and high-tensile fishing lines. Steeling herself, she raised her head slowly, gaze wary and grim, prepared to meet her end—only to find…
Jiangxia was holding a pot.
Not just any pot. A very specific, shiny new pot she had brought herself just minutes ago. She'd even thought about bashing Ouzo with it earlier.
He walked right up, plonked it beside her with a heavy thud, and said, "You can keep it."
Then, without even sparing a glance for this yinbi cadre who had tried (and failed) to rob him of his dignity, Jiangxia left in contempt.
He took the elevator downstairs. Since Vermouth had come through the main lobby earlier and might've attracted attention, he avoided the front entrance and detoured through the basement garage.
On his way out, he turned and glanced back at the hotel, contemplative.
They'd made a fair bit of noise in that scuffle. He wondered if any neighbors would call the front desk later to complain about "a drunk lady smashing up the place."
Then he shrugged.
Not his problem. He was just an innocent, victimized organization member. Clearly, Vermouth was the one disturbing the peace.
Suppressing his already-nonexistent conscience, Jiangxia picked a direction and headed for the station.
He'd only gone two blocks when a familiar engine roar cut through the air.
Jiangxia's instincts kicked in. He dove behind a nearby tree just in time to see a yellow Mazda RX-7 zip past, a blur of speed and noise. It was moving so fast he almost couldn't make out the model.
As the car disappeared around the bend, Jiangxia squinted after it, thoughtful.
That speed. That cornering. That car.
Was that... Amuro Tooru?
Jiangxia: "…"
Why was he here? Did Conan call for backup?
But that was way too fast. Hadn't it only been, like, ten minutes since Vermouth contacted Conan? How did Amuro show up already?
Jiangxia hesitated. His curiosity piqued.
Instead of leaving, he sent the Tengu shikigami to tail the RX-7 from above and see if it was heading toward the hotel.
Meanwhile, Jiangxia circled back the way he came, taking cover to observe from a distance.
…
Amuro Tooru was going to the hotel.
The fact that he found it so quickly had nothing to do with the Organization and everything to do with dumb luck. A person he'd been monitoring recently happened to be staying at this very hotel long-term, so Amuro had taken a part-time job there to keep tabs. Even after quitting, he still had access to the hotel staff group chat—because, of course, Amuro had excellent social skills and nobody had kicked him out yet.
Ten minutes ago, after making a prank call to Gin (for reasons best left unexplained), he checked his phone and idly scrolled through the group. He hadn't been looking for anything in particular—just seeing if anyone knew where Vermouth had wandered off to.
That's when he saw a flurry of chat notifications. One post caught his eye:
"I just helped check in a super-handsome high schooler… but I think he's being followed by a drunk older woman?? Should I call the cops?"
The replies were chaos. Some told her to stay out of it, some asked how handsome, and some wanted to see the "drunk pervert."
Amuro, however, immediately got a weird feeling.
He messaged the front desk privately and sent over a photo of Jiangxia:
"Is it this guy?"
The front desk clerk responded instantly:
"Yes yes yes!!! It's him!"
And that, dear reader, is how Amuro Tooru ended up speeding toward the hotel like a European Emperor late for tea.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 20/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:3/10*