"What could be worse than a detective's cooking?"
"My life."
Tokyo, Beika.
Rain falls all day, while neon lights blaze at night. Skyscrapers blot out the sky, and people lose themselves in a life of excess.
Like a spreading mire, crime silently seeps into every corner of the city.
"...So, if you understand, do me a favor."
Suspended in midair and on the verge of falling, Somezaki Kaede looked at the person in front of him and spoke with remarkable patience. "Let go of my hand."
"I can't do that."
The young man gripping his wrist didn't loosen his hold. He only clutched him tighter. "I have something to tell you, too."
"I'm a private detective, and I actually have a brain. But compared to my colleagues, I'm still missing an assistant," the young man said.
"...What does that have to do with me? Go to an agency."
"My budget's limited. I can't afford a consultation fee." The young man looked sincere. "Meeting like this must be fate."
"..."
A week later, a new detective agency opened at 2-21 Beika Town.
Looking for a lost, rare Mewtwo. Tracking down the number-one android suspect on the wanted list. Taking down a shady clinic that illegally modifies organs along the way...
Somezaki Kaede had thought life would go on like this forever.
Then the detective died.
Later, he died too.
As he lost consciousness, he thought that if souls really existed after death, perhaps he would hear the detective's angry voice the very next moment.
Who knew that when he opened his eyes, he'd find himself in Beika Town in another world?
Here, the weather was sunny, the seasons distinct, and people lived in peace and contentment. It was almost too good to be true...
"Boom!"
A bomb exploded on the roof of a nearby building, blazing brilliantly as smoke billowed into the sky.
Somezaki Kaede: ...
Well, now this feels familiar.
This seemed to be some kind of parallel world.
As he expected, familiar faces began appearing before him as time went by.
Their faces were indistinguishable from the ones in his memories, but their ages, experiences, and personalities were all completely different from those of the people he had known.
So many people came and went, but the one he knew best was nowhere to be seen.
That's all right, Somezaki Kaede thought.
That person must still be alive somewhere in the world. They just haven't had the chance to meet yet.
It's a different place, but what he had to do hadn't changed.
When everything was over...
he would go find that person.
Then he would become his assistant once more.
The elementary-school detective sitting across from Somezaki Kaede had listened to him talk about his bright future for half an hour: ...
"I told you!" the little detective shouted, finally losing patience. "I'm that very person!"
"Vengeance is mine; I will repay."
A few things to know:
1. The timeline begins in Conan's first year.
2. The protagonist is chaotic good and has his own principles.
3. There are many original details, and the timeline is a complete mess. If you find any plot holes, please feel free to ignore them.
Blurb last edited: 2023.9.6
Theme: Cherish friendship
