How to Survive With a Death-Flag Character Setting in Detective Conan - Chapter 30

When Higashino Hiromu returned to the table, all the dishes had already been served.

It had to be said that Amuro Tooru was truly skilled. His signature sandwiches were genuinely delicious.

However, throughout the entire meal, Higashino Hiromu was somewhat distracted. He kept watching Amuro Tooru out of the corner of his eye, waiting for him to go to the restroom and discover the USB drive.

Yet until they finished eating, Amuro Tooru never left the cooking station.

Once the meal was over, they could not just linger in the café, so he could only leave first, together with Hatori Yuiichi.

Hatori Yuiichi, on the other hand, was thinking about how to get the data from Higashino Hiromu, so he did not notice anything unusual about him.

Meanwhile, Amuro Tooru, who had been quietly observing the two of them, sensed Higashino Hiromu sneaking glances at him and also noticed Hatori Yuiichi’s unnatural state.

When Hatori Yuiichi had come to the café alone and kept checking the time, Amuro Tooru had already guessed that he was on a mission.

Sure enough, once Higashino Hiromu appeared, Hatori Yuiichi’s entire body tensed up. His movements were extremely stiff, and from the inside out, he gave off an unmistakably guilty air. Judging from this alone, it was clear that he really had not undergone any training. Even the newest recruits on the fringes of the organization wouldn’t have acting skills this bad.

Amuro Tooru grew increasingly curious about Hatori Yuiichi’s identity. A rookie who could do nothing, yet someone for whom Vermouth directly confronted Gin head-on. That was far too unusual.

After Higashino Hiromu and Hatori Yuiichi left, Amuro Tooru was still wondering what method Hatori Yuiichi would use to complete his mission.

At that moment, Enomoto Azusa walked up to him, holding something in her hand and asked, “Amuro-san, I picked up a USB drive in the restroom. Is it yours?”

Amuro Tooru shook his head. “No.”

Enomoto Azusa immediately grew anxious. “Then it must belong to one of the customers! Oh no, there were so many people during lunch, I have no idea whose it is. What should we do?”

Amuro Tooru felt that the USB drive looked a bit familiar. He took it and examined it, and sure enough, he saw the logo of “Ogawa Research Institute” on it.

This USB drive belongs to Higashino Hiromu!

Amuro Tooru reassured her. “Don’t worry. I know which customer it belongs to. I know him.”

Hearing this, Enomoto Azusa let out a sigh of relief and said, “Then hurry and return it to them! What if the customer needs it urgently?!”

Amuro Tooru nodded. As he untied his apron, he said, “I’ll make sure to be back before dinner.”

After leaving the café, he did not immediately go to look for Higashino Hiromu. Instead, he went to his car, took out his laptop, and copied all the contents of the USB drive. He also sent a copy to Kazami Yuya, asking them to analyze whether the data contained any hidden information.

Since Rum had not specifically instructed that the data needed to be destroyed, Amuro Tooru decided to return the USB drive.

* * *

After Higashino Hiromu and Hatori Yuiichi left, they slowly walked in the direction of the university.

From time to time, Higashino Hiromu glanced at the task panel. Every time he saw the three liquor names, his heart would tense up.

Seeing that the task was still not completed, Higashino Hiromu complained inwardly, It has been so long already. Has Amuro Tooru still not picked up the USB drive? Does he not need to use the restroom at all? How can he hold it in for so long?

Meanwhile, walking beside him, Hatori Yuiichi quietly raised his finger, then silently lowered it again.

After thinking it over, Hatori Yuiichi felt that directly reaching into someone else’s pocket would be extremely strange. He decided to think of another method.

At that moment, he finally noticed that Higashino Hiromu seemed lost in thought. He asked, “What’s wrong?”

Higashino Hiromu snapped back to his senses and covered it up. “It’s nothing.” Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a bank nearby and immediately added, “I happen to need to withdraw some cash. Wait for me a bit.”

Hatori Yuiichi accompanied him into the bank and found it packed with people, the lobby completely full.

As soon as Higashino Hiromu entered, he felt how crowded it was and said, “Why don’t you wait outside? I’ll use the ATM. It won’t take long.”

Hatori Yuiichi wanted to follow him, but there were simply too many people in line. Someone kept pushing him outward.

Hatori Yuiichi: ……

With no other choice, he could only say, “Then I’ll go outside first.”

Someone else tried to move closer to Higashino Hiromu. He immediately dodged away and said, “You’re standing this close to me. Are you trying to peek at my password?”

The people around him instantly retreated several meters away.

Higashino Hiromu walked over to the ATM area to line up. Seeing how crowded it was today, the bank manager opened another counter to divert some of the customers.

Relying on his long legs, Higashino Hiromu took a single step forward and snatched the first spot in line.

Heh heh, this is exactly when the advantage of long legs really shows!

The counter staff took his card and placed it into the machine. Immediately after, the bank manager hurried over and greeted Higashino Hiromu with a smile.

Higashino Hiromu looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“You are a super VIP customer. You can go rest in the VIP lounge,” the bank manager explained.

Higashino Hiromu shook his head. “No need. I’m just withdrawing some cash.”

He muttered inwardly, Is the original host really this rich? I wonder how much money you need to qualify as a super VIP at this bank. But there didn’t seem to be that much money in the card I handed over. Could the original host have other accounts?

The bank manager did not insist, but he still attentively brought him water and wet wipes, and even stood beside him directing the teller’s operations. People nearby whispered among themselves, sounding a bit envious.

Higashino Hiromu: …There is really no need. Absolutely no need! This kind of service just makes me feel uncomfortable!

* * *

Amuro Tooru remembered that Higashino Hiromu had said he was going to the university in the afternoon, so he headed in the direction of Tohto University. By chance, he spotted Hatori Yuiichi waiting outside the bank.

He recalled that Hatori Yuiichi was also on a mission, but judging from the situation, it seemed unlikely that he would be able to complete it.

Amuro Tooru decided to give him a hand.

He had an agreement with Vermouth that Conan and Mouri Ran could not be harmed. For that reason, Vermouth had even agreed to help him with certain things. But whenever he tried to probe for more information, she still refused to cooperate and declined to confront Gin.

Now, however, there was an additional variable in the form of Hatori Yuiichi. He was a new breakthrough point.

No matter what his true identity was, one thing was certain. Vermouth valued him greatly. If Amuro Tooru helped Hatori Yuiichi, he could use that as leverage to exchange interests with Vermouth. The more often this happened, the closer their cooperative relationship would become. He would then be able to obtain more information from her, and perhaps even use her to deal with Gin.

Moreover, Hatori Yuiichi did not yet know that he was also a member of the organization. He could first build a good relationship with him, then extract information from him later.

So no matter how he looked at it, helping Hatori Yuiichi was beneficial to him.

Thus, Amuro Tooru walked up to Hatori Yuiichi, handed him the USB drive, and said with a smile, “Hatori-san, I finally caught up with you. This USB drive should be something that Higashino-san dropped at the café. Please pass it on to him for me.”

Hatori Yuiichi paused slightly, took the USB drive, glanced at it, and said, “Alright. Sorry to trouble you to make the trip.”

“It’s no problem. I still need to hurry back to the café, so I’ll be leaving first!” After saying that, Amuro Tooru turned around and ran off.

Hatori Yuiichi had not even had time to say thank you before he saw Amuro Tooru’s back disappear around the corner.

Hatori Yuiichi: ……

He stared at the USB drive in his hand with a complicated expression.

He had not expected to complete the task in such a way…

He slipped the USB drive into his pocket, planning to go back, make a copy, and then return it to Higashino Hiromu.

At that moment, Higashino Hiromu, who was handling his business inside the bank, finally received the prompt: 【 Successfully Escaped Death Threat 】.

Higashino Hiromu excitedly clasped his hands together in his heart. Thank goodness, Amuro Tooru finally went to the restroom!

Heaven knew how much psychological pressure it put on him to have those three liquor code names constantly hovering before his eyes!

Now that the crisis was finally over, he could relax and go on a date with Hatori with peace of mind!

Tsk… I didn’t even get a chance to bond with Hatori while we were eating earlier. I absolutely have to make up for it later!

The smile at the corner of Higashino Hiromu’s mouth had barely appeared when the mission suddenly updated again!

【 Upcoming Event 】: Beika Bank robbery resulting in death

【 Murder Weapon 】: Rifle

【 Cause of Death 】: Excessive blood loss

【 Suspects 】: Kimori Mayu, Kaneno Ri, Furukawa Kuma, Matsunami Tadashi

【 Death Countdown 】: 0:39:59.59

The smile on his face instantly froze.

W-what?

He could hardly believe his eyes! If not for the suspects’ names having changed, he would have thought the earlier prompt had been a hallucination!

This… Wasn’t it barely a minute since the last task ended? This schedule is way too tight!

Before he could check the suspect details, three large men wearing balaclavas and carrying rifles rushed into the bank from outside. One of them raised his rifle and fired two shots at the ceiling, shouting loudly, “Nobody move!”

Higashino Hiromu immediately crouched beneath the counter and quickly dragged a chair over to block himself.

Holy shit, holy shit! This is for real?!

The bank manager also hid under the counter with him, lowering his voice in extreme panic. “Oh my god! Someone is actually robbing our bank! My year-end bonus is definitely gone this year!”

Higashino Hiromu gave him a speechless look.

No, man, at a moment like this, you are still thinking about your year-end bonus? Shouldn’t you be thinking about how to stay alive?

The bank manager seemed to understand his look and whispered, “Bank robberies aren’t that rare. In Tokyo, several happen basically every month. But don’t worry, most of them just want money and won’t hurt anyone. Once someone dies, the nature of the crime completely changes.”

Higashino Hiromu also lowered his voice and said, “You said most of them. Doesn’t that mean there’s still a small portion of robbers who will actually shoot people?!”

The bank manager fell silent for a moment, then said, “Well… I-I shouldn’t be that unlucky, right…”

Higashino Hiromu: …So you’re gambling on luck too?!

Everyone in the bank lobby was forced by the threat of rifles to squat with their hands over their heads, crammed into one corner.

At that point, the two people hiding under the counter stood out quite a bit.

One of the robbers walked over with his gun and shouted harshly, “Get out here, now!”

Higashino Hiromu and the bank manager could only obediently hunch over and come out.

When the robber saw the bank manager, he immediately grabbed him and ordered him to open the counter and the vault to load the money.

The manager could only comply, trembling all over.

As for Higashino Hiromu, he very sensibly crouched down among the crowd.

He even had the spare mental capacity to think, Thankfully, Hatori-kouhai isn’t here. Otherwise, seeing me look this pathetic would shatter his image of a reliable senpai.

So, where had Hatori Yuiichi, who was supposed to be waiting outside the bank, gone?

He had gone across the street to buy ice cream…

In just the time it took to turn around, the entire bank had been taken hostage!

When Hatori Yuiichi heard the gunshots, he immediately turned back and tried to rush into the bank, but was quickly stopped by a bespectacled man beside him.

“Young man! Calm down! Charging in right now would just be throwing your life away!”

Hatori Yuiichi said in a panic, “But my friend is inside!”

The man firmly grabbed his arm and said in a deep voice, “Right now, the robbers only want money. They won’t harm the hostages for the time being. If you suddenly rush in, you’ll only provoke them. When that happens, you, your friend, and the other hostages might all get sprayed by gunfire!”

“The only thing we can do now is wait for the police to arrive, or wait for the robbers to leave on their own!”

“We cannot provoke them any further!”

Hatori Yuiichi slowly pulled back the foot he had stepped forward with, clenched his fists tightly, and stared at the bank entrance with bloodshot eyes.

Right now, all he wanted was a gun in his hands so he could rush in and mow down all the robbers!