Saguru who grew up with fae folktales falling for the most fae-like human ever (Kaito) is absolutely delicious to me

bonus points if Saguru is part fae himself. just to match each other’s freak to a fundamental level. yanno

Ah! ShinRan week! Oh, the prompts look so cute… I’m definitely gonna have to try to participate this year! <3 Thank you for sending it to me.

I shit on it a lot (and rightfully so!) but DetCo’s anime art being such utter dogshit is actually somewhat encouraging

Maybe I should draw more, no matter how shitty it looks. Others get paid for worse after all

aura

ft kuroba’s resting bitch face whenever hakuba speaks

No guys he was like totally focused on the murder or whatever

They adopted Conan btw

No reason to be so gay

Detective Conan: Kid VS Hakuba: The Azure Throne (Part 1)

This week’s Detective Conan episode features Kaito Kid, and there’s a conundrum when he attempts his heist. It was nice to see Hakuba make an appearance in the anime series and play an important role.

And Akemi Okamura is doing a great job providing Ran’s voice while Wakana Yamazaki is on hiatus.

yall ever look at canon content and go “he would not fucking say that”?

(Spoiler for chapter 1119 of detective conan manga, or anime episode 1193)

I wanna say I draw the line at the main character being OOC, but let’s be real canon has done worse. Still, like, wanting to find the truth is his core characteristic. That’s the whole point, you could say. Aoyama Gosho is so washed it’s unreal.

Kaito uses his kendo skills to duel Yaiba [With some help] (MK V3 - Extra Chapter 18)

I’ve recently been rewatching all of the Detective Conan movies and it’s surprising how just a few years and life experiences can change your perception.

For example I used to think The Eleventh Striker was meh and upon rewatch it held surprisingly well!! On the other hand, The 14th Target took a bit of a dive in spite of some iconic scenes.

So yeah, folks, I know I am stating platitudes here but please do rewatch movies. You’ll be surprised to see the evolution of your outlook.

Yesss of course! ❤️

Chaquetuques is the diminutive for chaquetas (jackets) in my regional language (chaquetitas in Spanish). Now I don’t know why the plural form because the only one wearing a jacket is Shiho 😂 (probably his btw)

There’s something off about his face or hair and that’s why I never finished this one.

Kaito charms the three generations of Mine women (MK V3 - Extra Chapter 18)

Which of the main characters from Detective Conan and Magic Kaito do you think most resembles Sun Wukong, also known as the Monkey King?

In case you’re not familiar with the character or don’t remember him, Sun Wukong is a character from the novel Journey to the West, who was born from a magical rock. He became the Monkey King after proving his strength and intelligence among the monkeys. He was very rebellious due to his desire for immortality, to the point of wanting to be equal to the Jade Emperor just to prove his worth. After being punished by Buddha, he embarked on a journey toward redemption accompanied by the monk Tang Sanzang and his three other disciples.

As I reflected on Sun Wukong and his journey toward redemption, I couldn’t help but think that his story was, in some ways, similar to that of Kudo and Kaito, since both of them, at the beginning of their respective manga, come across as very arrogant and seem to believe that no matter what they do, they are untouchable—nothing will harm them or the people around them. Just like Sun Wukong, neither of them really wanted to go through what they’re currently going through.

Sun Wukong (though one could argue that’s not the case now, since his story has ended, but I think you get the point), who was imprisoned inside a rock because he had not only stolen from the gods while he was in heaven, but also wanted to be superior to the Jade Emperor. It was only when Buddha challenged and punished him that he realized he wasn’t invincible, and redemption came in the form of a journey he would have to undertake with a monk—who would become his master—and whom he would have to protect alongside other companions.

Shinichi Kudo, who was turned into Conan by a poison he was forced to ingest after going alone to collect evidence of how some men in black were making an illegal exchange with another man; this is where Kudo gets his first taste of reality, realizing that things won’t always go as he expects. This time it’s not like usual, where he uncovers the villain, the villain turns himself in, and he becomes the hero of the media and the police; now, as Conan, he’ll learn that these men aren’t just ordinary villains, and that even though he has allies, one wrong move and they’ll kill not only him, but also those he loves.

In Kaito Kuroba’s case, he sought out danger after being goaded by his childhood friend, Aoko Nakamori; during one of their usual arguments, she told him that Kaito Kid was a better magician than he was. Without realizing it, those words changed both of their fates—and Kaito’s even more so—since, after discovering that his father was Kaito Kid, he decided to take his place to find those who had murdered him. In his early days as Kaito Kid, one could say he treated it like a game, though that doesn’t mean his path was without danger. And when he discovered who had murdered his father, the dangers increased. With this, we could say that Kaito’s punishment for believing himself superior to Kaito Kid was to continue his father’s criminal legacy, which put both him and his loved ones in danger.

P.S.: In my opinion, I think Shinichi is more like Sun Wukong because of how his story unfolds, and more like Kaito because of the attitude Sun Wukong had when he went to heaven to be granted a title.

Cover art for Chapter 18 of Magic Kaito - Yaiba vs. Kaito!

note: This extra chapter is the first crossover into one of Aoyama-sensei’s other series. This chapter would later be adapted into the episode Conan vs. Kid vs. Yaiba - The Grand Battle for the Treasure Sword!!

Kaitou Kid never quits, even in the face of a trap (MK V3 - Chapter 17)

We got ourselves another week of all time! It’s fairly simple for our purposes, but this is a case you’d do well to remember.

1) Names!

The first two cases of the week, the Parade Bomber Case and Serial Bomber Case, introduced one major name: Jinpei Matsuda.

Matsuda has a couple of inspirations for his name. The first is a familiar one: Yusaku Matsuda, the actor that played Shunsaku Kudo in Tantei Monogatari. Matsuda’s appearance is also partially inspired by him (which may be obvious if you picked up on his superficial resemblance to Spike Spiegel, another major character he inspired). The second, related source of his name is another role Yusaku Matsuda played a few years prior to Tantei Monogatari: Jun Shibata, nickname Jiipan (“jeans”) in Taiyou ni Hoero!

“But wait,” you might ask, “isn’t there someone else we should talk about?” Why, yes, there is. In a moment.

As for Kogoro’s Childhood Friend Murder, the principal characters all have kanji in their name related to weather.

• Ruri Ujou (雨城瑠璃): Rain
• Yoshiki Kazami (風見良輝): Wind
• Kasumi Namihara (浪原霞): Fog
• Akira Nagumo (南雲暁): Clouds
• Nobuharu Nagumo (南雲伸晴): Clear skies

2) Canonized Info

Though I would normally save discussing cross-franchise canonization for the movies, we’re going to make an exception for Kenji Hagiwara, Matsuda’s friend who died seven years before the present day.

In the Serial Bomber Case (Published: November 2001), there are only a scant few mentions of Hagiwara, and only by last name. 

He very quickly gets fleshed out in the anime’s adaptation of this case, The Trembling Police Headquarters: 12 Million Hostages (Aired: January 2003). This two hour special not only gives Hagiwara both an appearance and a full name, but also fleshes out the circumstances of his death.

And, since we have his full name… He’s based on Ken’ichi Hagiwara, another actor in Taiyou ni Hoero! In the show, his character Jun Hayami dies in the line of duty (and is the first of those introduced in the very first episode to pass away). Yusaku Matsuda’s character is the one who takes his place (and also, eventually, dies in the line of duty).

3) Remember Them?

Two small callbacks this week.

• Shiratori jokes about being turned down at a miai toward the beginning of the Parade Bomber Case, which was Sato’s doing in Sato’s Omiai Case (Ch. 328-330).
• Sango joking to Kogoro in Kogoro’s Childhood Friend Murder about helping his younger brother refers to our first meeting with Jugo in the Chinese Restaurant Murder (Ch. 347-349).

4) Culture

A lot of smaller topics this week! Most of these are mentioned in passing or have only minor roles in their respective mysteries.

J1

The parade is for Tokyo Spirits winning the J1 League, which is one of two leagues (the other being, predictably, the J2 League) overseen by the umbrella J League. There are 20 clubs per league that are promoted and regulated between the two leagues based on previous season performance, with J1 being the more prestigious of the two.

Post Office Robbery

We previously discussed the concept of 五十日 (gotoubi) during the Stabbed Wallets Murder, which remains significant in this case due to it being when a number of financial transactions (bill payments, salary, and more.) But why would they choose to rob a post office, as opposed to a bank?

That would be because post offices often are financial institutions in Japan as well. Japan Post Bank was the largest financial institution in the world at multiple points throughout it’s over 150 year history.

Due to post offices being smaller buildings with fewer employees on any given day, they’re prime candidates for thefts, even if post offices have a smaller haul than a comparable bank.

Map Symbols

A key part to figuring out where the bombs were hidden away by the serial bomber is wordplay that ultimately produced a map symbol.

Japan’s map symbols are dictated by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan.

Some of these symbols are a bit more entrenched in Japanese language and culture, like the symbol for most schools: 文, a kanji that can refer to concepts like literature or academia. The symbol for hospitals, meanwhile, is based on old medical corps insignias.

Wikipedia thankfully has an organized list of map symbols, so you can check that out if you’re curious!

Mock Exams

The national mock exams being discussed in the Serial Bombing Murder are likely the Standardized National Mock Exams (全国統一模擬試験, zenkoku touitsu mogi shiken). These exams are held multiple times a year for various age groups by the Kawaijuku Educational Institute, a major preparatory school, and their National Advancement Information Center.

On average, high school second years like Ran and Sonoko could participate in standardized mock exams three times a year - late May, August, and October - and take tests for English, Japanese, and Math.

Sauce

The two condiments Eri and Kogoro fought over were soy sauce and “sauce.” Sauce (ソース, so-su) generally refers to varieties of Worcestershire sauce.

5) Japanese Language Quirks

As with culture, there are a number of smaller bits of wordplay sprinkled throughout the cases this week. For this, let’s go in case order.

Serial Bomber Murder

• Part of the clue in the Serial Bomber Case is the Japanese for extra innings, 延長戦 (enchousen). This is a homophone with 延長線, (enchousen), or “extended line,“ which Haibara uses deducing the bomb may be on a train line.
• We have another kizu (scratch/wound) and kisu (kiss) pun when Megure shows up to find the serial bomber functionally knocked out.

Kogoro’s Childhood Friend Murder

• After Conan gives his deduction via Kogoro on the fictional murder and wakes Kogoro up, Kogoro shouts out in pain “Ata” (a warping of itai, a common shout of pain). Conan, in Kogoro’s voice, finishes with “ttemasuka?” Combine both of this to get “Atattemasuka?” (当たっていますか), or “Is that correct?”
• Sango uses the phrase ミイラ取りがミイラになった (miira tori ga miira ni natta), which literally means “the mummy hunter becomes the mummy.” Other similar idioms in English include “going for wool and coming home shorn” and “the biter was bit.”
• When asked if he found the key (kagi) to the case, Kogoro responds that he found a brat (gaki) instead.
• Conan asks “Gamu tte motteru?” (Do you have gum?) as a clue for Kogoro to make him realize gum tape (gamu te-pu) was used by the culprit.

6) Japanese Language Bonus

There are two minor visual bits that are a little fun to see translated.

First, we have Conan’s notes on a map of the area in the Parade Bomber Case, which notes where each of the Detective Boys went to find a mailbox compared to where the parade was planned to run.

And then, in the Serial Bomber Case, we get a glimpse at Sato’s phone screen, which reveals that the date in the manga, 11/7 is actually a Wednesday (水).

As it turns out, the first chapter of this case was published on November 7, 2001…which also happened to be a Wednesday! So it’s a nod to the real life circumstances surrounding the case, rather than an indication of what day the case takes place on in-universe - which is from Saturday to Sunday.

7) File That Away For Later

The events of the Serial Bombing Case and the characters introduced within it have more than a few ripples and references throughout the series. It will absolutely be brought up again in multiple contexts, which include but are not limited to:

• Sato’s hang-ups about Matsuda’s death
• Takagi supposedly resembling Matsuda in some way
• Matsuda and Hagiwara as characters, in general
• The type of liquid-combination bomb used
• The oath Takagi recites to Sato

And with that, we’re done for the week! Thank you as always for reading, and hope to see you next time.

Cover art for Chapter 17 of Magic Kaito - Akako’s Delivery Service

Refering to this post

Okay, so, for some time I was thinking, what’s the use of Kaito & Shinichi being cousins if they didn’t know?
I ignored what happened at the end of M27 (mainly because I want Yukiko kept in the dark like them) and made Kaito find out by accident, then ask his mother for confirmation. Afterwards he decided to tell Conan at the next heist (I also thought it would work better if they were aware of eachother’s identities)
… And that’s where I need to give it more thought.
I decided to make their organizations the same, Kaito finds out (somehow) while he was digging into his uncle and that, all this time, Yusaku had been investigating them alone.

Then… family stuff, I guess, especially when Conan realizes that, since Toichi’s “death”, Kaito didn’t exactly have many people by his side, he wonders if it would have been different if this relation wasn’t kept a secret (for whatever reason)

Here’s a snippet

Conan squinted at the new text notification he received a few moments ago.

The contact was named ‘My Favourite Magician’, so it didn’t take a genius to guess who it belonged to, but he certainly did not remember registering Kuroba’s number on his phone — and even if he did, he definitely wouldn’t have named him that.

Did he steal my phone at the last heist? He thought, the mere idea making him annoyed. Huffing to himself, Conan changed the name to 'Lousy Thief’ before clicking on the message to see what would that guy want from him that couldn’t wait until the next time they meet.

Episode 1166: The 17-Year-Old Truth ~ The Far-Sighted Bishop

Based on volume 104, files 1106-1108

Plot in five keywords:

• Amanda knows that Rum is looking for her and keeps Rachel save
• Then, Rum confronts Amanda and she takes the APTX
• Koji hides Rachel, but later gets poisoned as well
• Kuroda finds Amanda’s and Koji’s dead bodies and the dying message
• Rachel attacks Kuroda because he thinks he’s the culprit

Important plot development:

• 17 years ago, Rum still had both of his eyes
• The BO knew all of Amanda’s bodyguard, eliminated all of them except the asian woman who’s always close to Amanda and the probably new hired tall man
• When Rachel can’t reach any of the other bodyguards, Amanda knows something is about to happen and she tells Rachel to go to Koji’s room
• We get to know that Rachel and Amanda had a mother-daughter-like relationship
• Amanda and Rum met 50 years ago for the first time at a Japanese millionaire’s birthday party (Rum was still a child at this time but he was already called Rum). Later, we get to know that the person she was talking about was Renya Karasuma and she thinks that Rum’s working for him
• Kuroda was on a secret mission and should have met a special person (Amanda Hughes)
• Rum says that he will remember every person he has met once in his life. The key is his left eye. Earlier both of his eyes were capable of it. He also remembers characteristics of people he saw
• Rum says that the BO has a new member - a female costume artist and voice imitator
• The BO knows about Rachel and her dad and Amanda’s and her relationship
• Amanda takes the pill herself and saves Rachel
• The BO searches for Rachel because Amanda might have told her about the BO
• Rum’s dad was also a BO member. He was also called Rum and he has inherited this codename
• Koji tells Rachel to hide behind the books in his room when the BO was knocking on his door which has saved her life and he gives her his good luck charm, because she was worried that the BO will kill him, telling her that she will be able to strike back one day
• Rachel seems to know about the BO
• Rum noticed that Koji moved some of his books but before he can reach for a book, Koji mentions Renya Karasuma and that he gathered information about him on the Internet and that Karasuma and Rum have a connection
• Kuroda finds Amanda’s dead body and her dying message. He tries to decipher it and thinks that Amanda expected that the culprit would return to the crime scene so he still might be in the hotel
• Rum fights Koji, killing him with the APTX
• Rum wants Chianti and Korn to shoot Rumi because he thinks that she has heard his voice 17 years ago
• The BO had to leave because the police has already arrived and wanted to continue searching for Rachel later
• Koji leaves a dying message
• Kuroda sees how the BO members leave the hotel. Then, he finds Koji’s corpse and his dying message
• Rachel leaves her hiding spot. Kuroda notices that she’s Amanda’s bodyguard and Rachel finds out that Koji’s dead. Rachel thinks that Kuroda has killed him and attacks him. She spots a photo on his phone which shows Amanda’s corpse
• Kuroda knocks her unconscious. He wants to get her out of the hotel safely and thinks about a possibility to do so

Rating:

10/10 watches

Obviously, that’s a great episode. We finally get to see the flashback of the deaths of Amanda Hughes and Koji Haneda. You need to watch this.

Post-canon AkAm Princess Mononoke AU: The World Of The Living

“Are you sure about this, Shuuichi-san?”

Wataru dithers by the stables’ entrance, fiddling with the tightly packed supplies he was undoubtedly sent to deliver by his wife: almost exclusively nuts and dried fish, if Shuuichi had to hazard a guess.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he asks, giving a single tug to Dai’s bridle. Ever attentive, the elk follows him out and into the busy street; one of the forge workers passing by— Hidemi-san, if Shuuichi isn’t mistaken— stops long enough for a quick greeting and a pat on Dai’s muzzle before heading off again.

“I— I mean,” Wataru stammers, a hand rising to rub the back of his head as soon as Shuuichi relieves him of his cargo, “aren’t you afraid the yamainu will decide to just eat you one of these days?”

Shuuichi blinks. Wataru shrinks a bit under his stare despite the full head he still has on Shuuichi in height. “Moro’s clan has no quarrel with me, nor I with them. I’ll be alright.”

Dai huffs by his ear, then impatiently nibbles on his shoulder. In Shuuichi’s peripheral greenery flashes, alluring. Wataru looks like he wants to say something else, but falters at the last second and merely lets Shuuichi go with a meek goodbye instead.

The moment they’re out of the village Shuuichi hops on Dai’s back, and then they’re dashing towards the forest. He can’t quite tell which one between them is more excited to be out and about like this again: as wonderful as it is that Tataraba was successfully rebuilt on its own ruins, the place hardly lends itself to being traversed by steed— what with the bustling alleys and all those crowded buildings.

Shuuichi, having forgone cloak and headwear, hears all the more clearly the newborn wilderness’s jubilant symphony, and although the kodama remain invisible he can make out the rattling greetings caught in the breeze as Dai slows down near the top of one of the gentler slopes that surround the village. On the other side, wading gracefully through waist-high wildgrass, one of Moro’s pups raises his head to look at them.

“Let’s go, Dai.” Shuuichi pats the side of his elk’s neck. Dai shakes his head, excited, and half-slides, half-skips down the hill towards… Haro, if Shuuichi isn’t imagining the small nick on the wolf’s left ear. It matters little since the inugami doesn’t give him a chance to say hello, immediately turning back and beginning to lead the way once they catch up to him; very rarely do the wolves speak to Shuuichi, even now. He doesn’t take it to heart.

Clinging to Dai’s reins, Shuuichi tirelessly watches the scenery change around him: tall grass gives way to moss-covered fallen trees, upheaved roots grasping for the sky as bright green sprouts crawl all over ancient wood; then flourishing bushes and young trees whose bark has yet to fully darken— the most the Shishigami had been able to restore when it fell, or perhaps exactly as much as it had been willing to give.

(They call this place a forest still, but it doesn’t much look like one right now. Time is what it needs most: Shuuichi can only dream of the day its trees will stand as tall as the ones they’re growing on, for he knows he’s not going to live to see it.)

Haro takes them farther and farther, past small streams and the great rushing river and hill after hill after hill; Shuuichi has to eat something on the way, and they all pause for water once, but at long last the yamainu slows his stride at the edge of what must once have been a small clearing encompassed by cedar trees. These days it looks like a slightly rocky prairie, not an ounce of shade to offer.

Sometimes, Shuuichi wonders how Moro’s clan has been adapting to such fundamentally altered hunting grounds: most animals perished along with the old forest, their lives drained by the headless Shishigami, and without the trees’ cover it’s far from difficult to spot a yamainu stalking through the grass. Tataraba is still too small and fragile of a settlement to contribute in any way to the wolves’ sustenance, even in the improbable eventuality that the resentment between humans and spirits came to be quelled.

Therefore Shuuichi worries, a little bit. But he does not ask.

Dai shudders beneath him, that controlled tremor of his that tells Shuuichi in no uncertain terms, time to get off my back. Shuuichi obliges, of course, only to find himself frozen on the spot by something as wondrous as it is daunting.

A few paces in front of him stands Rei, hair ruffled by the wind and eyes wide open, unblinking. He’s still wearing the crystal dagger: its facets gleam under the sun with every breath Rei takes.

Shuuichi takes a deep breath of his own, then steps away from Dai and holds his arms out.

In the blink of an eye, Rei has crossed the space between them and thrown his entire weight at Shuuichi, who catches him but can’t halt enough of Rei’s momentum to avoid tumbling backwards and onto the grass. His back doesn’t appreciate it at all, but… well. Rei is laughing, so it’s alright.

“It’s good to see you, Shuuichi,” is the first thing Rei says once they’ve both sat up. “Even though you stink.”

Shuuichi averts his eyes. There is no real way for him to get rid of Tataraba’s smells— not to the point they’d be negligible to Rei’s nose as well. “Is it that bad?”

“I don’t mind if it’s you.” Grass rustles. Rei is shuffling closer, until Shuuichi has no choice but to look back up at him. He’s smiling. “Tell me how you’ve been?”

Shuuichi does. He talks about reconstruction efforts and pointless anecdotes and about how terrified the shogunate now is of these lands, how Tataraba is no longer considered a potentially profitable settlement— too much work, too much danger, too inaccessible, too small a workforce— and what that means for the survivors.

“— and the farmers convinced Lady Kurisu to return to a season-based work schedule. That should…” Seeing Rei’s expression go from relaxed to thunderous, Shuuichi trails off. Perhaps he shouldn’t have mentioned the Lady of Tataraba so soon. When he makes to apologize, however, Rei sighs and drops his head on Shuuichi’s shoulder.

“You humans are making so much progress. You’ve rebuilt your town already, while the forest is still—” like this, he doesn’t say, but the desolate motion he makes with a hand conveys the idea anyway. “Sometimes it feels like it’s never going to be enough. Like it won’t grow back in time to withstand another blow. You are so far ahead of us, and I— if I hadn't—”

A frustrated growl. Shuuichi didn’t think a human could make that kind of noise. He wishes Rei had no reason to do that.

“If I hadn’t been so weak,” Rei spits. He’s looking down, and following the angle of his head Shuuichi sees the curse scars on the back of Rei’s hand, bright pink and so similar to the ones on his palm. “If I hadn’t let Lord Okkoto become a Tatari Gami, then—”

Shuuichi covers Rei’s hand with his own, scars on scars. Enough. “It wouldn’t have changed anything,” he interrupts, and when Rei whips around, a snarl at the ready, he leans in and presses on, “it’s true. It wouldn’t have. But that doesn’t make it your fault. It doesn’t mean you’re weak. You wouldn’t be here if you were— the demon worms would have consumed you like they consumed Lord Okkoto.

"But you’re here, aren’t you? You wanted to live for something beyond your hate, and you did. You’re here, and I’m in Tataraba, and we made those choices with eyes unclouded. Is that weakness to you?”

There is so much more he wants to say. So many things he wants, needs Rei to know. But Shuuichi is not good with words, and so he sets everything else aside, to be picked up another day.

It looks like what he said was enough to stun Rei back into calmness, at any rate. Blue eyes shift around, restless, before finding Shuuichi’s again. “… No. You’re right. It’s just… The forest feels like less, now. The Shishigami no longer lives in it. It’s still home, it will always be home, but I don't— it doesn’t breathe with us anymore.”

And that… Shuuichi has very little to say to that. He’s human, through and through. He has been taught how to live alongside the forest, but never with it. What Moro told him that night, about Rei being destined to die with the forest, makes a little more sense now.

(It terrifies him.)

Gently, as if Rei might shatter in his arms (he would never: he’s not so fragile), Shuuichi tugs him closer and then downwards until they’re both lying on the grass. He may have little to say, but he’s still going to. “Can’t you feel it?” he asks. He gives Rei’s hand a squeeze. “Do you really not feel it, in the air and the earth? All this life, doesn’t it come from the Shishigami? Has it not always been the forest itself, in the end?”

He’s barely making sense to himself, really. But something as deeply intertwined with the very cores of its domain as the Shishigami was— is— wouldn’t just dissolve with the sun. Even without a body, something like that can’t simply die. And Shuuichi, in all his human nature, likes to think that he’s not imagining things when admiring the newborn forest gives him the distinct impression that he’s being stared at right back.

Rei blinks at him, lips minutely parted, then giggles and buries his face in the grass. He tugs their joined hands a little closer, just enough to press his forehead against them when he next turns towards Shuuichi. “You can be very silly sometimes,” he says, which is almost incomprehensible to Shuuichi’s frazzled mind. Rei is holding his hand back. Rei is holding his hand back. Rei is—

“Did that make any sense at all?” he manages to ask.

Rei closes his eyes. There is a smile so soft on his face that Shuuichi has no doubt Rei is thinking about his home, and it makes him realize that there might not be a single thing Rei will ever love more than the Shishigami’s forest. “A little bit.”

All around them, the wildgrass sways with the breeze. Somewhere behind Shuuichi, Dai’s hooves stomp on dirt and solid rock alike. Overhead, a bird of prey shrieks.

Life comes back.

Meitantei Conan, chapters 225-230: Cruise Ship Murder Case