ALL NOVEL Chapter 241: Chapter 241: Trust
"If Toru Amuro is also an undercover agent within the organization, maybe he knows where my brother Shuichi is!"
After learning about Toru Amuro's true identity, Masumi Sera suddenly realized that her progress against the organization seemed to have taken a significant step forward.
She had always believed that her elder brother, Shuichi Akai, must still be alive.
However, due to a lack of sufficient information, no clues had surfaced.
The appearance of Toru Amuro had, therefore, filled Masumi Sera with a sense of excitement.
But that excitement didn't last long.
Suddenly, she realized something else.
"Come to think of it, does that boy already know Toru Amuro's true identity?"
"He has likely known for a long time that Toru Amuro is an undercover officer and has inside information about the organization."
It was evident.
Ever since reuniting with Conan, he had been dropping hints about himself, even about her mother's identity.
Not only had she revealed to Conan that her mother was an MI6 agent, but she had also secretly disclosed that her mother had taken medication to shrink her body.
These two secrets were perhaps the most significant between Sera Masumi and her mother, Mary Akai.
However, Conan, knowing how eager Sera was to find her brother, had kept the matter of Toru Amuro—someone who might know Shuichi Akai's whereabouts—a secret.
For a moment, a bitter feeling welled up in Masumi Sera's heart.
It was the feeling of being honest with others but not receiving their trust in return.
Masumi Sera suddenly realized that Conan seemed to distrust her more than she had ever thought.
---
She recalled something Akikawa Kyousuke had said to her not long ago:
"Miss Sera, it seems you've misunderstood something.
Just because I am an enemy of that organization doesn't mean I'm on the same side as you."
The fact that Akikawa Kyousuke shared a common enemy with her did not mean that he was her ally.
Could the same principle apply to Conan and Haibara Ai?
Masumi Sera even had a dreadful feeling.
It was possible that Conan had long known where her brother was but had chosen to hide it from her.
Masumi Sera knew that Conan was a very kind person, and it felt unfair to suspect him maliciously.
But at that moment, memories of Conan and Haibara Ai's cautious behavior kept resurfacing in her mind.
These thoughts made Masumi Sera doubt whether Conan truly trusted her.
Or did he see her only as a replacement for Kudo Shinichi, someone to handle matters inconvenient for him due to his child-sized body?
Masumi Sera suddenly understood why her mother could never fully trust Conan.
Now, it seemed, it wasn't about his abilities. It was simply because he didn't trust her either.
Thinking this, Masumi Sera lowered her head in disappointment.
Her black bangs obscured her eyes, her slender hands clenched tightly, and her teeth bit down hard.
A deep sense of reluctance surged from the depths of her heart.
---
Masumi Sera had initially thought she could discover her brother's whereabouts through Toru Amuro.
But now, it seemed that idea was far too naïve.
Not only because she couldn't seem to earn Conan's and his companions' trust, but also because Toru Amuro was clearly suspicious of Akikawa Kyousuke.
"If I go to Toru Amuro and ask about Shuichi's whereabouts, he will definitely question how I learned his identity."
"That would undoubtedly create a lot of unnecessary trouble."
"Toru Amuro must not suspect that the boy revealed his information."
"In that case, he might assume that Akikawa knows his identity."
"And this would expose the fact that Akikawa possesses observational skills far beyond those of ordinary people."
"Furthermore, Toru Amuro is a public security officer. Can a public security officer truly accept the things Akikawa has done in the past?"
"Even a child might not be able to accept them."
---
After thinking it through, Masumi Sera abandoned her plan to ask Toru Amuro about Shuichi Akai's whereabouts.
She didn't want to become a hindrance or cause unnecessary trouble for Akikawa Kyousuke.
Even though, for now, Masumi Sera was the only one offering help to Akikawa Kyousuke, he had yet to accept her assistance.
For the time being, Masumi Sera believed that the information she had gained from Akikawa Kyousuke outweighed what she had shared with him.
---
Just like with Toru Amuro:
"Even if Akikawa hadn't told me, I would never have realized he had deduced Toru Amuro's identity."
"And Akikawa didn't ask me to help him investigate Toru Amuro."
"On the contrary, after learning Toru Amuro's identity, I might inadvertently expose Akikawa's deduction of Toru Amuro's identity to both Toru Amuro and Conan."
No matter how she thought about it, revealing Toru Amuro's identity to her wouldn't benefit Akikawa Kyousuke in any way.
And yet, Akikawa still chose to do so.
This proved he believed she wouldn't betray his trust.
---
Masumi Sera thought about this deeply.
Compared to Conan, who had known her for so long yet still doubted her at every turn, Masumi felt far more comfortable with Akikawa Kyousuke's trust.
"Speaking of which, there's someone very suspicious in that boy's household."
---
The image of a squinting, brown-haired graduate student living with Kudo Shinichi's family flashed in Sera Masumi's mind.
Ever since she was young, she had always been treated like a boy wherever she went.
But the man named "Okiya Subaru" had immediately recognized her gender upon seeing her.
Masumi Sera concluded that this wasn't the first time Subaru Okiya had seen her.
At the time, Subaru Okiya claimed he had determined her gender based on the curve of her hips.
Moreover, Conan had denied the possibility of Subaru Okiya being her brother, Shuichi Akai.
Thus, Masumi Sera had initially dismissed her suspicions of Subaru Okiya.
But now, those dismissed doubts resurfaced in her mind.
No matter how she looked at it, Subaru Okiya's sudden appearance in Kudo Shinichi's household was highly suspicious.
---
Masumi Sera suddenly had an idea.
She thought of having Akikawa Kyousuke, with his exceptionally sharp observational skills, interact with Subaru Okiya.
Perhaps, with Akikawa Kyousuke's abilities, he might uncover information about Subaru Okiya that she had missed.
Of course, this required one condition:
Akikawa Kyousuke's identity must remain hidden.
Before implementing this idea, a thorough plan would need to be crafted.
---
(End of Chapter)