Chapter 21
Here comes the sense of security!
Speechless after being confronted by Ai Haibara, Conan Edogawa could only walk up to Jonah in frustration and start playing games with him.
Because it was a battle game, and because Conan Edogawa was in a bad mood, he took it a little more seriously and made Jonah lose badly.
Jonah didn't say anything, and even though he hadn't won, he was still enjoying the game. However, Ai Haibara couldn't stand it anymore. She sternly chased away Conan Edogawa and took the controller to play a couple of rounds with Jonah.
"Alright, it's getting late, we should go to sleep."
As the time came, Ai Haibara put away the controller, pushed Jona to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, and even made up the bed for Jona herself, while looking at Conan Edogawa with a very strange expression.
"Hey Haibara, aren't you spoiling Jonah a little too much? Don't you think of yourself as Jonah's mother?"
"I have no interest in being a mother. As a famous detective, can't you even make this basic judgment?"
"If it's not Mom... Haibara, could it be that you like...?"
"Shinichi Kudo, if you don't want to find something bad in the antidote I develop later, you'd better watch your words."
"Well, I really don't know much about this. I'm just talking nonsense, all of it."
Coughing, Conan Edogawa decisively retreated; he dared not provoke this 'nasty' yawning woman.
Jonah woke up early the next day. Having slept very well, he habitually made his bed, changed his clothes, and went out for his morning exercise.
Jonah was somewhat unaccustomed to his smaller size, which affected his strength, endurance, and speed. However, he was pleasantly surprised that his reaction time had become faster.
After all, whether it's close-range or mid-to-long-range combat, as long as you can react faster than the enemy, you can always seize the initiative.
Keeping his promise to Conan Edogawa, Jonah did not reveal that he was Shinichi Kudo. In fact, Jonah didn't really believe it either. Even though Conan Edogawa said that he was actually a high school student, he usually looked like an elementary school student, making it difficult for Jonah, who was a little slow on the uptake in daily life, to accurately tell the difference.
"Jonah, are you really not going to come with us?"
After quickly packing her luggage, Ran Mouri turned to look at Jonah, who was sitting in the living room watching TV, and felt a little disappointed that Jonah wasn't going to go out with them.
"Yeah, I don't want to go this time."
Jonah nodded to Ran Mouri; he had his own reasons.
Normally, Jonah would definitely join in group activities like this, whether he wanted to participate or not, but mainly to protect Kogoro Mouri and his group who were always in danger.
But this time, Jonah had to leave them because he had more pressing matters to attend to.
Jonah repeatedly confirmed with Conan Edogawa that the gathering they were attending was just a regular Sherlock Holmes fan meeting where everyone was going to discuss the novels and Sherlock Holmes, and there would be absolutely no problems.
People who like Sherlock Holmes can't be bad people!
Although Jonah didn't know why Conan Edogawa dared to say something so absolute, he decided to trust him anyway.
After seeing Kogoro Mouri and his two companions off at the door of his house, Jonah endured until 2 p.m., unable to calm his increasingly anxious mood even with snacks and television, and kept staring at his cell phone on the coffee table.
Fortunately, just as Jonah picked up his phone again to check if something was wrong, a number he remembered finally dialed in.
Good afternoon, Jonah.
Good afternoon, Mr. Oshima.
"I've prepared everything. Here's an address; just take a taxi over."
"good!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Jonah agreed, ran back to his room, took out paper and pen, and wrote down the address Cohen had given him.
After locking the door, Jonah ran to the street and hailed a taxi. Sitting in the passenger seat, he watched the street scene flow backwards outside the window. Half an hour later, Jonah finally found the place Cohen had told him about.
"Over here."
Still dressed in the same hat and sunglasses, Cohen waved to Jonah from a secluded spot at the entrance of the residential area. Jonah didn't even notice him until he spoke.
Knowing that Cohen must be a highly skilled assassin, Jonah didn't say much. He quickly ran to Cohen's side, followed him into the residential area, and after turning a few corners, arrived at an apartment building.
"Is this Mr. Oshima's house?"
Looking at the empty third-floor apartment with only some basic furniture and no sign of human life, Jonah asked curiously.
"Yes, safe house."
To put it simply, although he felt an inexplicable affinity for Jonah, Cohen wouldn't go so far as to invite Jonah to his home, where he usually rests.
After having Jonah sit on the sofa in the living room, Cohen went into the inner room, took out two large black cloth bags, placed them on the floor next to the coffee table, and, under Jonah's excited and expectant gaze, opened the drawstring of the bags and took out the weapons inside.
An AKS-74U (a modified .74 assault rifle with a short barrel and folding stock) and a Browning MK3 pistol were the guns that Cohen found after considering Jonah's requirements.
Cohen picked up the melee weapon prepared for Jonah, the Andario MK3 naval saber, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke.
"Are you sure you don't want to be an assassin?"
"If you become an assassin, you can use these weapons more freely. But if you do that in society, you'll cause problems."
The words were a bit stiff, but this was Cohen's way of showing concern. Although they had only spent a short time together, after that one wargame they had worked together, Cohen already knew that the boy in front of him was not someone who could truly adapt to a life without weapons and gunpowder.
If Jonah is allowed to remain repressed in normal society, and he ends up possessing firearms that threaten the safety of others, then all sorts of consequences are possible.
Rather than running away later, I'd rather become an assassin now and change my life.
"I need weapons to protect people."
Shaking his head, Jonah knew that his inability to feel at ease without a weapon was unlike that of someone from a normal society, but he still wanted to try. Whether it was Eri Kisaki, Ran Mouri, Kogoro Mouri, Conan Edogawa, or Ai Haibara, they all made Jonah feel a different kind of interaction between people.
Although there were still many things he didn't understand, Jonah wanted to experience more before drawing conclusions.
Seeing Jonah's stance, Cohen didn't say anything more, but secretly thought to himself that if it had been Gin who met Jonah instead of him, Gin would have definitely tried every means to recruit Jonah into the organization.
After inspecting the guns, bullets, a flashbang, and a smoke grenade, Jonah noticed a khaki backpack at the bottom of the bag and curiously took it out.
"What is this, Mr. Oshima?"
"It's a gift."