Multiple choice system: Conan World

"Mr. Akikawa, let me accompany you."

When they reached the bathroom door, the detective posing as a nurse said this to Akikawa Kyousuke.

"Thank you, I can manage on my own."

"Alright, then I'll wait for you at the door. If you need anything, call me."

Even though Akikawa Kyousuke had declined, the detective didn't show any displeasure on his face. He truly seemed like a nurse who cared for his patients and had a good attitude.

At the end of the bathroom's washbasin area, there was a window wide enough for slender adults and children to pass through.

There were basically no pedestrians under the twilight, and only the singing of birds indicated that a new day had begun.

Since it was still early, there was no one else in the bathroom.

Akikawa Kyousuke approached the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

It was only at that moment that he truly faced his own body after traveling back in time.

In the world on the other side of the mirror was a pale, lifeless young man. He had a figure thinner than the average person, with a bandage on his head, a hospital gown on his body, and an infusion stand with a tube connected to his hand.

Although he had just been admitted to the hospital, he looked like a patient who had been living in the hospital for the whole year.

"It's weaker than I thought. This body feels like a dead branch that will break if you step on it lightly."

But surprisingly, the young man's facial features were very defined.

This made Akikawa Kyousuke sigh inwardly.

For people with well-proportioned features, even if their hair was wrapped in bandages and no hair was visible, and their body was so frail, their appearance was still pleasant to the eye.

Akikawa Kyousuke didn't come to the bathroom just to use it.

Although there were very few ways to obtain information at the moment, you could still learn something basic about yourself just by observing yourself.

Akikawa Kyousuke discovered that not only his cheeks but also his palms and neck had an unhealthy pale glow.

Even if the skin was usually exposed to the outside, it looked paler than the average person's. In addition to the pathological reasons, there was another possibility:

"I've been cooped up at home without exposure to sunlight all year long."

Akikawa Kyousuke rolled up his sleeves and pants and gently squeezed the muscles of his arms and legs.

The relaxed muscles further confirmed that Akikawa Kyousuke's conclusion was correct.

"The skin is also a bit dry and rough, and the area around my eyes is somewhat dull. It doesn't look like staying up too late, but more like anemia caused by malnutrition."

"You should be at an age where you should still be studying, but you haven't been to school at all."

"You have the ability to care for yourself but are severely malnourished."

"If you live alone in this condition, it's most likely that you'll collapse and give up. But if you live with others, it's overprotectiveness or abuse."

Akikawa Kyousuke extended his hand to touch his forehead and neck before passing judgment.

"It's the latter."

The length of his hair clearly wasn't that of someone who had been holed up at home for years. It had obviously been cut.

Akikawa Kyousuke could not sense the original owner's will to live, but the hair was well-maintained.

If someone truly cared about their appearance, they wouldn't let their physical condition deteriorate to this point.

So, it could only be someone else taking care of the original owner.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he appeared to be lacking in exercise and malnourished. Then he considered the information revealed by the detective who helped him earlier.

Akikawa Kyousuke's balance of thoughts shifted toward the direction of "abuse."

"Assuming the original owner was really abused, the woman who was in the same car with him should be the one living with him."

"Something's off. The original owner seems to have enough motive to kill..."

Akikawa Kyousuke quickly untied the top of his hospital gown and carefully examined his fragile body.

But after a detailed inspection of his body, Akikawa Kyousuke found no old scars except the new bruises that were likely caused by the car accident.

"The absence of trauma doesn't mean the absence of abuse."

"At the same time, in this situation, the police concluded that the original owner committed suicide, which means this is something I only discovered after being sent to the hospital for an examination last night."

In other words, certain conditions within his own body revealed this.

"Did they detect any residual substances in my body? Poison? Sleeping pills?"

"But no matter what it is, it couldn't have been a sudden move. The original owner must have made preparations in advance."

"Then the question is: did the original owner commit suicide before the woman died or after?"

"Speaking of which, the original owner actually has blue eyes, and his hair isn't black in the traditional Japanese sense, but brown."

In addition to the facial features that still looked beautiful despite being thin, another thing that particularly stood out were the original owner's eyes, as blue as the night sky.

When Akikawa Kyousuke inspected his body earlier, he also noticed that not only his hair but also the body hair in other parts of his body was maroon.

This meant that his hair wasn't dyed but was naturally this color.

"Is it a mixed race?"

Just as Akikawa Kyousuke continued to examine his body, wanting to see if there were other details about himself he hadn't discovered, he suddenly noticed through the reflection in the mirror that someone quietly opened the bathroom door.

"They were watching me even when I went to the bathroom. As expected, the police were convinced the original owner had committed suicide."

All the clothes on his body had been changed, so there should be nothing on him that could cause injury.

Also, there was no one else in the bathroom, and there was no risk of harming anyone.

So the police must be keeping watch on him to prevent another suicide attempt.

"Since the police are watching me, it means the original owner's suicide happened after the woman with him died."

"Because only in this case can 'I' do the same after realizing that I'm not dead."

"Given that the original owner had been abused for many years, did he specifically choose this day to travel with her and plan to kill the woman and then commit suicide?"

"Isn't this just murder? It seems the police have issued the same judgment."

Akikawa Kyousuke pressed his hand to his forehead from the headache.

Japan isn't a country that easily condemns people to death.

Even extremely cruel criminals who have killed many people often have little chance of being sentenced to death.

There are essential differences in sentencing standards between impromptu murder and premeditated murder.

Clearly, the latter is more severe.

Akikawa Kyousuke had always hoped that through some clues, he could prove he wasn't the murderer and reduce suspicions.

But the more he understood the situation, the more deeply he realized he was being suspected.

(End of Chapter)