A New Potion
Subaru Okiya rested his left hand against his glasses and gave them a light push, his expression unchanging as he replied in a flat, even tone. "I shouldn't think so. Until recently I was devoted entirely to my research at the university, and I only moved into this neighborhood lately. Under normal circumstances, it would be quite unlikely for me to know anyone who's already working."
A flicker of wariness—so faint as to be nearly invisible—passed through Subaru's eyes, though his face remained perfectly composed. "May I ask, Dr. Baizhu, where you believe you've seen someone who resembles me?"
"Is that so," Baizhu murmured with a smile, offering neither confirmation nor denial. "It's nothing, really. I just couldn't help noticing that your build is remarkably similar to a patient I treated some time ago—Baizhu had once tended to a gunshot wound of Akai Shuichi's. It's rare to come across two people with such similar physiques, and simple curiosity loosened my tongue a little. If it weren't for the fact that your hair and features share nothing in common, I'd almost have believed the two of you were related by blood."
"A shame I couldn't get a clear look at your eyes, Mr. Okiya," Baizhu added at the end. "If yours were green as well, you two might genuinely turn out to be kin."
At those words, Conan's heart clenched.
The person Baizhu had just described—someone with the same build as Subaru Okiya—was unmistakably Akai Shuichi. Were all doctors this perceptive? How had a single glance been enough for Baizhu to connect Subaru Okiya and Akai Shuichi?
"Looks like big brother Baizhu has it all mixed up. But it's a big world out there—plenty of people look alike, so it's really nothing surprising at all," Conan cut in, doing his best to divert Baizhu's attention.
Subaru nodded along in easy agreement.
"Quite true. This world is full of strange coincidences," Baizhu said, casting Conan an amused sidelong glance.
The boy was still a touch too young to keep his composure. Look at Subaru Okiya, by contrast—even cornered this far, he hadn't turned a hair.
Baizhu went on, musing aloud, "And the two of you share something else in common—you're both left-handed. That's what prompted me to ask in the first place. Of course, it may well be nothing more than pure coincidence."
At that, Subaru's eyes tightened almost imperceptibly. He hadn't expected Baizhu to pick up on such a small detail—had it been that instinctive little push of his glasses just now that gave him away?
Still, he managed a carefree laugh and offered an explanation. "It's really just a personal habit of mine. Some people are simply born favoring their left hand, I suppose. In any case, I'm sure there are plenty of left-handed people in the world—hardly a rare trait."
Baizhu nodded, appearing to accept the explanation. Then, as if something had just occurred to him, he asked with playful curiosity, "By the way, Mr. Okiya—how did you know that I've already entered the workforce? If I do say so myself, next to you, my appearance should give off far more of a student's impression."
"Ah, it was simply your bearing and manner. You don't carry yourself like someone still in school," Subaru replied, the corner of his mouth curving into a smile too subtle to notice. "Besides, I happened to overhear you telling that little girl beside you—" he glanced toward Haibara Ai, who was using Conan to shield her body, "—that you were a doctor. So..."
Baizhu raised an eyebrow and smiled. "I see, that explains it. Though I must say, you're quite sharp, Mr. Okiya—noticing what I said from all that distance away."
Subaru laughed modestly. "You flatter me. Perhaps I'm simply a rather observant person."
The two men exchanged smiles, and the atmosphere settled into something light and pleasant.
All the while, Subaru quietly studied Baizhu, mentally turning over the intent behind the doctor's remarks—had it all been offhand chatter, or had the man noticed some crack in his disguise?
The children of the Junior Detective League stood clustered around Baizhu, a trace of bewilderment and confusion in their eyes. They had listened in silence to the verbal fencing match between the two men, unable to grasp the undercurrents running beneath it.
Only when the exchange finally drew to a close did the kids snap back to themselves, eagerly redirecting their attention to the case at hand.
Haibara shot Subaru one more guarded look, then tugged at the hem of Conan's shirt and turned, steering him quickly in Officer Yumi's direction—toward where the officer stood.
Conan allowed himself to be pulled along without protest, but his gaze lingered thoughtfully on Subaru Okiya. For the briefest of moments, their eyes met—an exchange so slight it might never have happened at all.
"It really is a rare treat to find you in the laboratory," Kusuda remarked as he stepped inside, eyeing Alhaitham, who appeared to be absorbed in an experiment.
"Blame it on someone being dissatisfied with the results I submitted a while back. They went so far as to force me into participating in the operations team's activities," Alhaitham answered without lifting his head.
"To spare myself that sort of unnecessary trouble, I've decided to put in a bit of effort going forward. Though at the moment, I still have no leads worth mentioning." As he spoke, he picked up a bottle of strangely colored liquid from the desk and gave it a shake.
He shot Kusuda a glance, set down the potion—which was hardly producing any effect at all—and leaned back in his chair. With a firm push of his foot, he swiveled around to face his visitor. "So? What did you come to see me about?"
"Consider it my contribution to your research," Kusuda said, strolling over to lean against the lab bench, his tone deliberately casual. "As I understand it, disguises and masks generally use fairly similar materials. What I'm hoping you can make is a solution that dissolves them."
Alhaitham arched an eyebrow but did not answer right away.
Sensing his hesitation, Kusuda elaborated. "The kind of agent you could spray on someone, and the disguise mask on their face would vanish in an instant—same as the effect with those clothes that dissolved like that a while back."