Chapter 142: Sisters Reunited

While Heiji Hattori and Conan buried their heads in the case files, Fina took the time to bring Ai Haibara to their destination.

This was a small warehouse. Because someone had died in a shootout, the already mostly vacant warehouse had been completely abandoned.

The owners of the neighboring warehouses also felt that this place brought bad luck, and they had all hung up signs offering their properties for resale, so very few people ever came here.

In the exact center of the warehouse, a milky-white soul floated right in the middle of a magic circle.

Ai Haibara hurried over to the front of the magic circle, her hands and feet at a complete loss for where to put themselves.

"Don't rush, let me handle it." As she spoke, Fina lightly tapped the air in front of her.

Ripple-like patterns in the air spread outward in concentric circles.

As the ripples vibrated, the circular soul expanded bit by bit, slowly transforming into a human figure.

"Sister..." Ai Haibara's voice was very soft. As she spoke, she held her hand in front of her mouth, terrified that a single breath of hers might blow her sister away.

"Shiho, you've gotten so small~" Akemi Miyano murmured softly to Ai Haibara after waking up. Judging by her appearance, she probably hadn't yet realized that she was now surviving in an entirely different form.

"Come here, let your sister give you a hug." Akemi Miyano opened her arms and floated forward a little, directly crashing into a transparent barrier.

That collision actually made her snap to her senses. She lowered her head to look at her own transparent figure, then cast a puzzled glance at Fina standing off to the side.

"Ahem, you two sisters go ahead and chat, just don't talk for too long—no more than half an hour. Her spiritual body is still unstable and needs more time to rest."

With that, Fina turned around with her hands behind her back and walked out cheerfully. Being able to reverse a tragedy and turn a sorrowful ending into a comedic one was definitely something worth smiling about.

"Sis, stop bumping into it." Watching Akemi Miyano collide with the barrier from various angles using her spiritual body, Ai Haibara felt a strange urge to laugh.

"Shiho, what is going on?! You aren't being threatened, are you?" Akemi Miyano looked a bit nervous. How did she somehow end up looking like a hostage being used to control her younger sister?

"No, listen to me, I'll explain everything slowly..."

Omitting the details that couldn't be spoken of, Ai Haibara told Akemi Miyano everything else that had happened recently, from start to finish.

"How could you be so foolish? What if that drug hadn't worked on you? Even if you really couldn't bear to stay there anymore, you could have found other ways!" Akemi Miyano scolded her repeatedly.

"You're one to talk, Sis. How could you fall for Gin's lies? And that ex-boyfriend of yours, running off all by himself and leaving you behind—what a complete jerk!" Ai Haibara puffed out her cheeks and complained.

Then the two sisters looked at each other and broke into sudden smiles. Being able to complain about each other like this was a precious sweetness they had never noticed before.

"Shiho—no, I should call you Haibara now~" Akemi Miyano teased. The former Shiho Miyano had been extremely aloof, only showing warmth toward her older sister, but that icy demeanor always felt lacking in vitality. Now that she had shrunk, she actually seemed much better.

Ai Haibara felt a little embarrassed. "Sis~"

"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore. Haibara, what are your plans for the future? How about we look for a chance to join them?" Akemi Miyano whispered, offering an idea.

Right now, she just wanted to find a reliable backing for her sister. Regardless of anything else, the fact that Fina and her companions could turn a dead person like her into this form proved they certainly possessed real power.

"I haven't considered that yet." Ai Haibara was slightly worried that her sister would oppose her decision. "I want to continue the research on APTX-4869."

Her reasoning was relatively simple. Since those who ingested APTX-4869 became stable anchor points for the world, if she continued researching the drug and lowered the fatality rate to an acceptable level, then even if Fina and the others failed or suddenly departed, there would still be an alternative way to fight back.

Akemi Miyano looked at her younger sister. Although Ai Haibara hadn't shared every single detail with her, she trusted her sister's judgment.

"I support whatever you decide to do, though it'll have to be verbal support only, seeing as I'm in this state now," Akemi Miyano said with a laugh.

With her sister's unconditional support, Ai Haibara felt much happier and began chatting with her about everyday matters.

Half an hour sounded like a long time, but to these two sisters, it felt as fleeting as a single minute, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Thirty minutes later, though reluctant, Ai Haibara did not try to make her stay, and Akemi Miyano made no other requests. Under Fina's control, she drifted back into a deep sleep.

"Thank you." Ai Haibara walked out of the warehouse, glanced at the sun which had not yet reached its zenith, and turned to speak to Fina.

"You're welcome." Fina walked with her hands behind her back. "Let's go, I still need to visit one more place."

Meanwhile, at Ekoda High School, Kaito Kuroba rested his head on his desk, spinning a pen out of boredom.

There hadn't been any news regarding gemstones lately. Ever since his last encounter with Conan, he hadn't made a move in quite a while.

"Ahem, ahem. Cough, cough." Keiko Koizumi, sitting right behind Kaito, suddenly began coughing violently.

In an instant, everyone's gaze in the classroom focused on her.

As the school's heartthrob, aside from Kaito Kuroba, she was the dream goddess of every single boy in the class. As for Kaito, he simply happened to have a relatively good relationship with her.

"Kaito, walk me home." Keiko Koizumi stood up unsteadily.

"Huh? Sure." Kaito dropped his pen and, amid countless envious glances, supported Keiko as they walked out together.

What? The teacher in the classroom?

What kind of teacher could possibly control a student whose hidden identity was Kaitou Kid and another whose hidden identity was a shrine maiden?

"Are you alright? Do you want to go to the hospital?" Kaito asked in a low voice.

"No need, I just... I just feel a bit unwell. I'll be fine after resting for a while." Keiko's face was pale and her tone was weak.

"You can't go on like this." Kaito helped Keiko sit down on a public bench, then reached into his pocket and took out his phone. "I'll call Aoko. She took today off and is staying at home, and her house is pretty close to here."

"No need..." Keiko gasped for air. Her injuries were not something a hospital could treat.

Since yesterday, she had felt that something was wrong. The magical power within her body was continuously draining away for no apparent reason, and just now, the rate of that loss had suddenly accelerated, directly causing her physical weakness.

"There's no need to make that call, young man. Step aside." A voice came from nearby.

Kaito turned his head and saw a foreign woman approaching with a very cute little girl.

Keiko frantically tapped on Kaito's hand, urging him to run away quickly. She sensed an unprecedented, terrifying magical power emanating from Fina; compared to the other person, she herself felt like nothing more than a child facing a giant.