The Role of Akai Shuichi
"No, it seems it isn't." Vermouth watched the taxi approaching from a distance, a smile slowly spreading across her face.
There had been one surprise after another today, but as long as she could finally deal with that woman in the end, none of it would matter.
Vermouth leveled her gun at Sherry, who was walking toward them, fighting down her fear every step of the way. "Welcome, Sherry."
As Haibara Ai drew closer and saw Conan collapsed beside a car, her eyes flew wide in naked terror — she thought she had come too late after all.
Then she saw that Edogawa Conan's chest was still rising and falling. She examined his condition carefully; there was no blood anywhere around him, and only then did she let out a breath of relief. Conan was all right, for now.
Haibara pocketed the tracking glasses, staring down the muzzle Vermouth had trained on her. She fought to keep her body from trembling uncontrollably as she spoke, calm and level. "I came here today to end all of this. I'm done running. Even if the police catch you today, as long as I'm still alive, you people will never stop hunting me. But there is one thing I want you to promise me — don't touch anyone else. No one but me."
Vermouth agreed to Sherry's demand without a moment's hesitation, saying that she wouldn't lay a finger on anyone — aside, of course, from the FBI woman lying on the ground.
With that said, she raised her pistol, ready to put an end to this long-standing eyesore right then and there. "Sherry, if you want to hate someone for what you've become, hate those foolish parents of yours who took over that research."
Morikawa Shiro, standing off to the side, didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. Vermouth made it sound as though she'd been planning to kill everyone else from the very beginning.
And was she planning to fire or not? If she kept talking, who knew what new surprise would crop up — he hadn't forgotten there was still someone hiding at the scene. He had no intention of exposing them, either; if it really was Mouri Ran over there, things would only get messier.
Sure enough, before Vermouth could pull the trigger, the person hiding in Judy's trunk came sprinting out and flung herself over Haibara Ai, shielding her with her own body.
What followed was pure farce. As a member of the Black Organization, Morikawa Shiro honestly couldn't bear to watch — Calvados, at point-blank range, emptied his gun and hit no one; and Vermouth was worse. The moment she saw that the person who had run out was Mouri Ran, she actually fired a warning shot at Calvados...
So had Vermouth called in reinforcements for nothing? Not only had none of the people she meant to send away actually left, they had all shown up at the scene at the same time...
His little sister really was the obedient one, Morikawa Shiro thought. He'd told her not to get involved, and sure enough, she was nowhere to be seen.
Watching Vermouth fire shot after shot into the ground, Morikawa Shiro stopped her, exasperated. "I don't think Miss Mouri over there has any intention of moving. If you don't want to shoot her, then stop wasting bullets. Don't worry — I won't breathe a word of this."
"Miss Judy, I wouldn't move if I were you. The next shot might not land in your stomach." Morikawa Shiro spoke with his back to her.
Judy's breath caught at the warning from this man who had appeared out of nowhere. The hand creeping toward the pistol on the ground froze mid-motion.
She had been so careful. He hadn't even turned around — hadn't his attention been on Vermouth just now? How had he noticed?
But Judy didn't dare move again. And judging by Ran over there, there seemed to be no immediate danger to anyone's life.
Meanwhile, Vermouth, hearing Cointreau's words, squeezed off a few more rounds before finally lowering her pistol in sheer frustration.
Damn it. Cointreau had witnessed her every reaction just now — and worse, he now knew exactly how much she cared about Ran and the others. He would never let that go. Though she supposed she could count herself lucky it was Cointreau here and not Gin. If it had been Gin...
At that thought, Vermouth turned back to say something to Cointreau — but he was gone. While she was still puzzling over it, the sound of a scuffle broke out from where Calvados had been positioned, punctuated by several gunshots.
Judy pressed a hand against the wound in her abdomen and strained to look up, guessing at once who had appeared. "Shuichi..."
Vermouth caught Judy's whisper and let out a cold laugh. "Rye..."
This time, she would see for herself whether the FBI's ace — the man who had once infiltrated the Organization — could gain the upper hand against Cointreau.
Just then, sirens wailed in the distance. Vermouth cast one last glance at the figure of Angel stubbornly shielding Sherry. Reluctant as she was to admit it, there was clearly nothing to be gained today. She made to drive off. As for Cointreau...
She had every confidence that a man of his abilities would find his own way out.
But in the instant she started the engine, her mind too frazzled to notice, a small figure had quietly slipped into the back seat of her car.
Back at the harbor — after Morikawa Shiro had deflected Akai Shuichi's shot aimed at Calvados's leg, he had closed the distance and engaged the man directly.
Even in the middle of the fight, he found the breath to call back a reminder to Calvados: leave now, the police were almost here. As for whether today's events would reach the Boss's ears — he trusted Vermouth cared about that far more than he did, and she would surely make things clear with Calvados herself.
Hearing the warning, Calvados didn't hesitate. He got up, gathered himself together, and made a swift exit.
He didn't know this man. But first, Vermouth herself had brought him along today, which suggested he held no small standing in the Organization; and second, the man had just saved his life. He was hardly going to question his word.
"The police are already on their way. Are you planning to stay?" Akai Shuichi studied the man who had appeared from nowhere and was holding his own against him, his mood grim.
When had the Organization gained someone this skilled? What was his codename? Judging by Vermouth's behavior, he must have some status within the Organization — at the very least, he wasn't a new recruit. So why had Shuichi never seen him during his own time inside?
And there was more.
Akai Shuichi registered the force behind each of the man's blows and frowned deeply. On the surface, they seemed evenly matched — but Shuichi could feel that his opponent was still holding back. What was more, back when he'd been about to cripple Calvados's legs, Shuichi hadn't noticed at all when the man had slipped away from the harbor and suddenly appeared at his side. If he had opened fire on him in that moment, then...
He didn't know why the man was pulling his punches, but having someone this dangerous in the Organization was nothing but bad news for their side.
Morikawa Shiro had no way of knowing what was running through Akai Shuichi's mind, but his own reason for not going all out against the man was simple enough: he needed Akai Shuichi to keep the Organization's attention locked down — the Boss's and Rum's attention above all. Only then would he have room to make a few quiet moves of his own.