[Detective Conan] After Forgetting

Those four really looked like those four bastards who died young...

Rei Furuya looked at the rookies before him, who had received their code names a year ago, and Bitters, the so-called “King of Bitter Liquor” with his exceptionally special status. He lowered his eyes, hiding the dark look in them.

Enough, Rei Furuya. Since when have you been so irrational that you'd associate them with four criminals? Rei berated himself. That was an insult to the dead.

But before he could go gather information on them as usual, something unexpected happened.

Those lunatics forgot he was still inside when they blew up the Twin Towers to destroy the evidence. Amid the explosion, Rei Furuya was buried under the rubble.

Luckily, the police arrived in time, dug him out, and rushed him to the hospital. After waking from a week-long coma, Rei Furuya underwent a super-evolution

With help from the [real] Heaven's Four, Rei Furuya's memories involving the four police academy friends were separated and left in Heaven. In other words, it was as though he'd forgotten everything about them.

After that, he remembered himself as having always been alone: caring for himself when he was sick, bandaging his own wounds, venturing alone into the darkness, and gazing alone toward the dawn.

That was good. He wouldn't have to let those memories stir up unnecessary emotions and affect his judgment.

And so, the other five noticed that Rei Furuya had changed.

Something was missing from his eyes.

He no longer tried to subtly ask about their pasts, no longer tested them carefully when they chatted, and no longer left himself any room to maneuver.

The five of them felt extremely anxious and uneasy, but they couldn't tear off the secret identities they'd worked so hard to keep hidden and test Rei Furuya. All they could do was bottle it up.

(The memories of the Heaven's Four and Police Academy Rei were overjoyed.)

After the final battle, the four impostors came to see Rei Furuya, who had been badly injured in the fight and was recovering in the hospital. They wanted Bit back, and kept saying things like, “He's still just a kid,” “He didn't really want to do it,” “He's developed serious psychological problems because of all this,” “He may live in darkness, but his heart yearns for the light,” and “Why can't you give him one more chance?”

Rei Furuya just wanted to shake the water out of their heads.

Until he met Rei Furuya's cool, purplish-gray eyes

“Who are you?”

The four of them suddenly understood, stunned and incredulous. Rei Furuya... had forgotten them?

Theme: At its core, forgetting is a form of avoidance. Rei Furuya would never choose to avoid things, but the people watching couldn't bear to see him hurt so badly, and selfishly made the choice for him without his consent