Taking the Initiative
Vermouth crossed her arms and tapped a finger lightly against her sleeve. She was one of the few in the Organization with a reasonably clear picture of what Cointreau was capable of — and yet this Wanderer, a boy of fifteen or sixteen, had held his own against him all the way to now. That meant the Wanderer was far from ordinary.
She hadn't forgotten what Cointreau had said before, either: that his mother had abandoned the Wanderer because she judged him too fragile.
Vermouth gave the boy — still smiling as he traded blows with Cointreau — an oddly bemused look. If that counted as fragile, what did that make someone like her, who couldn't last a minute in Cointreau's hands?
Which meant, in turn, that the head of the Inazuma division had to be terrifyingly strong. Could it be that even Cointreau was no match for her?
Vermouth found the Teyvat Syndicate more mysterious by the minute. Best not to make an enemy of them yet — as expected.
Gin casually pressed his finished cigarette against the ashtray at his side, looked ahead, and called a halt to the sparring between the Wanderer and Cointreau. There was no point in continuing.
"Kir's gone missing recently. Once we track down where she is, you'll be moving with us." Gin studied the Wanderer as he spoke. "If you perform well on that operation, you can earn your codename early."
Though he gave no outward sign of it, Vodka, standing behind Gin, could still sense that his Aniki was satisfied with the Wanderer.
"Tch. Cointreau, your Organization's pathetic, isn't it? Your own people can't even protect themselves — let an outsider snatch one of you up alive, and now nobody knows where she is. That Kir woman... don't tell me she's already turned traitor."
The Wanderer couldn't have cared less about the codename Gin had dangled. He looked at Cointreau, who was busy straightening his clothes, and dripped venomous scorn all over the man's Organization — clearly payback for Cointreau's earlier loose talk about his personal affairs.
"Gin, since you've got people to help, I'm sitting this Kir business out." Cointreau couldn't be bothered to answer the Wanderer's mockery; the boy's words were water off a duck's back anyway.
With that final word to Gin — today's test of the Wanderer was more or less complete — he called to the boy and left.
The Wanderer clicked his tongue, visibly irritated by Cointreau's manner, but followed along all the same.
Vermouth watched the boy's departing back, utterly baffled.
Where on earth did that the-world-owes-me-and-I-owe-nothing attitude come from? By his own account, nothing in his upbringing should have produced a personality that insufferable.
"Gin, are you really going to let him join the operation? This Wanderer doesn't look like the type to follow orders properly. What if he runs off on his own and wrecks the plan, and we end up failing to get Kir out..."
"So what if he joins? It's a chance to see whether he's actually fit for the Organization. And even if Kir doesn't get rescued, that's just Kir's bad luck. If she betrayed us — if she told the FBI something she shouldn't have — then there's no point saving her anyway. We deal with her directly when the time comes."
With that, Gin rose to his feet, skirted past Vermouth where she stood in his way, and left with Vodka.
Vermouth gazed after his retreating figure, her eyes unreadable, and smiled. "Cold-blooded to the last."
The next day, on the way home from school.
The Detective Boys — fresh off having just cracked yet another classmate-disappearance case — let out a collective sigh of regret when Conan broke the news that Klee wouldn't be able to come out and play for a while.
Genta's head drooped. "Aw, that stinks. I was gonna ask Klee to go camping with us this weekend."
"Yeah..." Ayumi's earlier high spirits from solving the case deflated a little too. "We saw the cutest little kitty just now, and I was going to invite Klee to come look at it later — maybe even ask if she wanted to keep one."
"Klee's staying at a hotel with Mr. Kaeya, though," Mitsuhiko pointed out. "They probably can't have cats there."
"I guess so," Ayumi sighed.
Haibara shot a sidelong glance at Conan — who had managed to depress the entire group with a single sentence — and gestured that he had better think of a way to change the subject before the kids sank any deeper into gloom.
Conan felt vaguely wronged. Sure, he'd been the one to say it, but that hardly made it his fault, did it?
But Haibara was clearly in no mood for logic. Out of options, Conan squared his shoulders, put on a grin, and turned to Ayumi and the others. "Come on, everyone, cheer up! Klee's waiting for her brother, so she's laying low for a bit — there's nothing anyone can do about that. It's not like you'll never see her again. Besides..."
He faltered. Nothing came to mind — nothing, at least, that would actually pull their attention away from their disappointment — so he blurted out the first thing he could think of. "Besides, we can just go do stuff ourselves! We're the Detective Boys, after all."
"Conan, you're right!" Ayumi lit up instantly.
Conan relaxed a little at the sight of her rallied spirits — but what Ayumi said next told him he'd relaxed far too soon.
"Conan's right! The Detective Boys can act on our own — we can go visit Klee ourselves!" Ayumi beamed, radiant.
Wait, no — that is not what I meant...
Conan could only stare, dumbfounded. Never in a million years had he imagined she would take his words that way.
"Yeah! If Klee won't come out, we'll just go to her. Conan, you're a genius," Genta declared, evidently fully on board with Ayumi's plan.
"Mm, I remember Klee telling me her room number at the hotel before. We can go straight to her," Mitsuhiko added — already, apparently, drawing up the meetup itinerary.
In no time at all — before Conan could even explain what he'd actually meant and talk them out of it — Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko had settled on a date and time for tracking Klee down.
"Should we give Klee a heads-up first?" Ayumi asked.
"Hmm... let's not. How about we surprise her instead?" Genta suggested.
Heh. A surprise, sure. You sure it won't be a heart attack? Conan deadpanned inwardly.
Mitsuhiko nodded along eagerly. "Sounds great!"
And just like that, before Conan knew what hit him, the three of them had a full plan worked out.
Faced with the trio's shining, expectant faces, Conan found he simply couldn't bring himself to say the words that would shut it all down. In the end, he let it stand.
After saying his goodbyes to the kids, only Conan and Haibara were left walking the road.
Haibara cast him a pointed glance. "That was your idea of changing the subject? Klee is a sweet child — running into her out and about now and then is one thing. But now? Now we're walking right up and knocking on the door ourselves."
She lowered her voice. "We still don't know if Kaeya's mysterious organization is friend or foe. And don't tell me you've forgotten Kaeya has ties to the Black Organization. What if we run into one of them while we're there..."
"Perfect timing, then — more chances to gather intel." Conan laced his hands behind his head and grinned.
Haibara glared at him with open displeasure.
Just then they reached the intersection. With an indignant "hmph," she turned on her heel and headed straight back toward Professor Agasa's house, leaving Conan to talk to the air.