Chapter 174: Cousin
"Hey, what are you staring at? And more, how are you planning to confess to your angel now?"
Having cleared his own name, Takano's friend was feeling relaxed enough to start teasing him again. He walked up behind Hideki Takano and gave him a hearty slap on the back, snapping the young man out of his daze.
"I'm not going to confess anymore," Takano replied, his eyes still distant. "I mean... I'm not going to confess to the angel."
"Huh? Why not?" his friend asked, baffled. "Just a little while ago, you were saying she was your one true love."
"Because the angel is too distant," Takano murmured, a strange mix of awe and resignation in his voice. "I don't think she could ever belong to me. But... that Knight Lady... she makes my heart flutter even more."
Yes, he thought, a faint blush creeping up his neck. The Knight Lady who saved me and cared for me.
His friend's lip twitched. 'Knight Lady'? Where did that come from? This kid Takano really hadn't changed a bit; he still fell for every new person who showed him the slightest bit of kindness.
Aether, who had been observing from a distance, had already noticed the dim-witted young master shifting his affections. While he found the boy's taste questionable and reaffirmed his belief that no man was good enough for his sister, he also breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
All in all, despite the constant string of accidents today, the outcome was satisfactory. It was time to leave; if he lingered any longer, certain people would start getting anxious.
Just then, Conan, who had been surreptitiously watching Cointreau the entire time, saw him bid a quiet farewell to Natsume and the others and turn to leave. The boy detective tensed, ready to give chase.
Before he could take a step, a firm hand pressed down on his shoulder. He looked up to see Shuichi Akai, who gave him a subtle shake of the head, a silent signal that the FBI already had a plan in motion. Leave the rest to us.
Then, Akai himself began to follow Cointreau.
Conan watched as the two figures, one casual and the other coiled with purpose, disappeared into the crowd. He felt a measure of relief seeing that Kaeya was still with Klee and Natsume, a familiar, reassuring presence.
Shuichi Akai shadowed the man ahead. He made no effort to conceal his presence; he had already been exposed, so there was no point in playing games now. To his surprise, however, Cointreau didn't seem to care. He didn't try to shake his tail or lose him in the throng of people. Instead, he acted as if he had no idea he was being followed, strolling leisurely toward the elevators.
Akai wasn't particularly worried about losing him. The FBI had agents positioned throughout the vicinity; Cointreau wasn't getting away. Snipers were already in place covering the hotel entrance. The best-case scenario was detaining him today, just as they had with Kir. But even if they couldn't, this was an opportunity to probe his abilities further.
He watched Cointreau step into an elevator. Akai remained where he was, his mind racing through the possibilities. Then, just as the polished steel doors were sliding shut, he made his move, pressing the open button at the last possible second.
He stepped inside. A quick glance at the control panel revealed that only one button was lit: the top floor.
'Shouldn't he be trying to find a way out of the hotel?' Akai wondered. From the second floor, a jump from any window would have been trivial for a man of his skills. So why was he heading up? Was he meeting someone?
"Rye." The voice was smooth, laced with a lazy amusement. "No, I should call you Shuichi Akai now. We meet again." Cointreau was the first to break the silence.
"Hello," Akai replied, his voice level as he gave a polite nod. Judging by their calm demeanor, no one would have guessed they had been trying to kill each other just hours before. "Should I call you Cointreau, or...?"
"Morikawa Shiro. That's the name I'm using for now," Cointreau answered, not even questioning how Akai knew his codename.
Hearing him so openly admit that 'Morikawa Shiro' was merely an alias left Akai momentarily speechless. He composed himself and fixed Cointreau with a puzzled look. "I would have thought that upon seeing a traitor like me, you would either attack on sight or at least notify the Organization. But you seem to have no intention of doing either."
As he spoke, probing for any scrap of intelligence, Akai's hand, hidden in Cointreau's blind spot, moved across his phone screen. He blind-typed a quick message, alerting his colleagues to the change in plans. They had stationed most of their personnel near the lower-floor windows and hotel exits, never expecting their target to ascend deeper into the building.
"You betrayed the Organization, not me," Cointreau said, taking a step back to lean against the elevator wall, his posture the very picture of indolence. "There's no benefit for me in being so active about catching traitors."
He paused, then tilted his head, a look of detached curiosity on his face. "By the way, your girlfriend passed away. You should know that by now, right?"
The question came out of nowhere, cutting off whatever Akai had been about to say.
"I know," Akai said, his voice tight. His gaze sharpened, a flicker of steel entering his eyes. "I also know that Akemi was killed by Gin. I'll make sure he pays for that shot."
"Oh? Well, good luck with that," Cointreau replied with a dismissive wave. He immediately followed up with another question, his tone just as casual, just as curious. "But did you know she was your cousin?"
"What did you say!?"
The world inside the small, rising box seemed to tilt. Akai's eyes widened, the carefully constructed mask of stoicism shattering. He never, in a million years, would have expected to hear those words. But the fact that Cointreau was asking meant it was almost certainly true.
Akemi... his cousin? The idea was so surreal it felt like a punch to the gut.
Wait. If Akemi was his cousin, then her sister, Sherry... she was his cousin, too.
His mind reeled. How could Cointreau possibly know something that he, a member of the family, didn't? Had the Organization's intelligence network become so powerful that they had already dug up his entire family tree? Or had Cointreau discovered this on his own?
Honestly, he couldn't make any sense of the man before him. Cointreau held a high rank in the Organization, yet he actively concealed information that would be detrimental to them. He claimed to be apathetic, yet he had prevented the FBI from detaining Calvados and had destroyed their listening device. And now, he had exposed his own location with baffling ease. Was he truly not concerned for his own safety?
"Oh, it seems you didn't know," Cointreau observed, his expression feigning a sudden realization. He clicked his tongue. "Tsk, using even your own cousin to get ahead... what a scumbag."
The disdain in his voice was open and sharp.
Shuichi Akai's face stiffened. "I didn't know at the time..." he couldn't help but defend himself.
"Heh. Excuses," Cointreau shot back with a sideways glance. He posed a quiet, cutting question. "If you had known back then, would you really not have used her?"
"...I would." The admission was quiet but obvious. Guilt churned within him, but he knew it was the truth. If he had to do it all over again, he would still make the same choice. He might have handled it differently, knowing their true relationship, but the essence of the act would remain unchanged.
Seeing that there was still some time before they reached their destination, Akai forced a change of subject. "What is your purpose for suddenly appearing these past two days?"
"Sigh. No purpose," Cointreau said, his expression one of pure sincerity. "It really was just a coincidence. I ran into someone I knew and thought it would be interesting to come along. Don't be as suspicious as Gin."
Ding-dong!
The elevator doors slid open, revealing the top floor.
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