Nine Lifetimes of Reincarnation

"So it's Conan." Kisaragi Rokumei looked down at Conan and asked instinctively, "Sister Ran hasn't returned? Did she go out to play somewhere?"

Conan did not answer. The moment he saw Kisaragi Rokumei, his gaze was drawn to the object in his hand.

That shape—it was a knife, wasn't it?

Where on earth had he gone? Why would he bring a knife back? What exactly was he trying to do?

Countless questions had been swirling in Conan's mind since the other man disappeared at noon that day. Especially after realizing that the key clues he used to convict the criminal had been discovered under the guidance of Kisaragi Rokumei, he had almost instinctively associated him with the Organization.

However, the former Organization member known as Sherry, who went by the alias Haibara Ai and had been monitoring from outside the door, had ruled this out. She had not sensed that heart-stopping aura of the Black Organization from Kisaragi.

Conan eventually chose to trust Haibara's "Organization detection radar," but that did not mean he had completely let go of his suspicions. Thus, he had made special preparations.

Kisaragi Rokumei then noticed that Conan was the only one in the room and asked curiously, "Huh? Uncle Mouri isn't here either?"

That was perfect; Kisaragi had not yet thought of an excuse to explain his unannounced departure.

As Kisaragi was lost in thought, he heard Conan say coldly, "Uncle Mouri and Sister Ran were sent away by me. I told them you went to the Professor's house and wouldn't be back today."

"What?"

Conan took a deep breath, then looked up into Kisaragi Rokumei's eyes, confronting him with a serious expression, "There are only the two of us here. Tell me, who exactly are you, and what is your purpose in approaching Uncle Mouri?"

"Huh?"

Conan kept his poker face, hands in his pockets, yet his small stature radiated an immense sense of pressure at that moment. "You don't need to pretend anymore. You aren't actually Mochizuki Setsuo, are you?"

Having his identity questioned, Kisaragi Rokumei was truly surprised. He looked at Conan, whose behavior was completely at odds with his age, and asked the question on his mind, "Why would you think that?"

Hearing the other party not deny it, Conan felt no joy in solving the mystery, only an increasing sense of unease. Still, he laid out his reasoning.

"Many reasons! First, if you really were Mochizuki Setsuo, after experiencing the betrayal of your biological parents, it would be impossible for you to accept the kindness of a stranger so quickly! Second, I had people check, and there is no one named Toji in Mochizuki Setsuo's life!"

Conan took a deep breath and continued, "Third, Mochizuki Setsuo wouldn't know how to use a computer at all. The shrine where he grew up was very traditional—it didn't even have a telephone, and the orphanage wouldn't have taught him either. Yet I have seen you operate a computer to look up information with ease. Fourth is the knife in your hand. I don't believe the current Mochizuki Setsuo could afford a knife, nor would he know how to use one."

"In summary, that is the evidence that you are not Mochizuki Setsuo."

Under Conan's scrutinizing gaze, Kisaragi Rokumei smiled helplessly, "I thought I was acting quite well. I didn't expect there to be so many flaws."

"So, who is Toji? Did you leave without saying goodbye at noon to meet him? Did he give you this knife?" As Conan pursued his questioning, his hand, which had been in his pocket, moved behind his back, his finger hovering over the trigger of his tranquilizer watch. If Kisaragi were to become enraged by having his secret exposed, Conan would immediately subdue him with a dart.

However, his subtle movements were seen clearly by Kisaragi Rokumei, whose spiritual sense had awakened, leaving him both amused and exasperated. "I never said I wouldn't tell you. There's no need to be nervous."

This was the truth.

If Conan had asked this question a few days ago, let alone answering, Kisaragi might have considered how to make Conan stay silent forever.

Although this might seem like returning kindness with enmity, compared to the consequences of his secret of reincarnation being exposed, Kisaragi would not mind a little prick to his conscience. Many might think that his soul-transference reincarnation was a pipe dream, but if even one person in power believed it, Kisaragi would surely face inhumane experiments, torture, and dissection.

Never underestimate human greed and the desire for immortality; this was an iron rule forged by centuries of history.

However, after his spiritual sense awakened and he learned of his true race and gained a rough understanding of his current abilities, the exposure of his identity was no longer a cause for concern.

All schemes and plots are empty talk in the face of absolute power. Kisaragi had roughly estimated his current strength; while destroying the world might still be difficult, sinking Japan would not be hard.

Still, while he wasn't afraid, being pestered by lice is annoying. So, for irrelevant people—specifically mentioning the sharp-eyed Amuro Tooru—Kisaragi would never give them the chance to learn his identity and cause him trouble.

As for Mouri and the others, it didn't really matter.

Kisaragi had originally planned that if he couldn't fool them, he would just come clean and reveal his true form in front of them, so he could go find Toji without any lingering worries. He hadn't expected Conan to discover the anomaly first and even thoughtfully provide an excuse to fool Mouri, saving Kisaragi the trouble of shattering his benefactor's worldview.

Well, Kisaragi had no psychological burden about shattering Conan's worldview—after all, an overly curious cat must endure some small punishments, shouldn't it?

Having been stalked like a tail by Conan for a week, Kisaragi Rokumei smiled with a touch of malice, "Oh my, since you've discovered it, I won't hide it anymore."

Conan suppressed his excitement, "So you..."

"It's too troublesome to explain in words, so, just see for yourself."

Before Conan could react, Kisaragi Rokumei reached out and tapped his finger on the center of Conan's brow. Instantly, countless images rushed into his mind.

Of course, they were all things Kisaragi wanted him to see.

For example, Conan learned about Kisaragi's reincarnation but not his true race; he learned of the relationship between Kisaragi and Toji, but not Toji's identity...

Yet, this single act alone stirred up a storm in Conan's heart. His seventeen-year-old worldview was shattered. His poker face could no longer be maintained. He rubbed his head, which felt swollen with the influx of knowledge, and looked at Kisaragi with a mix of shock and suspicion, harboring a hundred thousand questions.

"You..."

Just as he was about to speak, Kisaragi interrupted, "Oh my, it's very late. Time to sleep."

"You've told me so many things, how could I possibly sleep?"

How could Conan not see that this was intentional retaliation for interrogating him like a criminal? If it were anyone else, Conan would have turned and walked away without a word, denying them the chance to toy with him. But the person before him was Kisaragi Rokumei, who had just refreshed his entire worldview!

Conan admitted that he was truly, immensely curious about the reincarnation and the matter of him bearing a child! If he didn't know the answer for even a second, it felt as though a hundred cats were scratching at his heart.

For this, Conan didn't hesitate to set aside his dignity and began to act cute, "Setsuo... no, Brother Rokumei! Please just tell me! Otherwise, how could I ever fall asleep!"

This tactic, which usually earned him a knuckle sandwich from Mouri Kogoro, was an absolute "ultimate weapon" against Kisaragi Rokumei, who had children of a similar age. The malice in Kisaragi's smile vanished, replaced by gentle doting.

Kisaragi stroked Conan's head and asked, "Alright, what do you want to know? Ask."

Conan's body shuddered, and he asked, bracing himself, "So you came to Uncle Mouri's place just to find your... old..." The term was too embarrassing for Conan to finish: "...your partner from your past life?"

"Yes, because the people at the welfare department were too troublesome, and Mouri..." Kisaragi's smile stiffened for a second, "Mr. Mouri's help was truly a great assistance. So you can rest assured, I won't do anything to them."

Conan nodded, letting down his guard, and asked his next question, "Brother Rokumei, what exactly are you?"

"Hmm, in the words of neighboring China, I am a cultivator. Because I failed my tribulation, I accidentally came to this world. Since my soul suffered severe damage, I could only seal my spiritual sense and memories, slowly recuperating through the cycle of reincarnation. Kisaragi Rokumei, my previous life, was my one hundred and twenty-first reincarnation in this world."

"So you've regained your memories now because your soul has healed?" Conan asked excitedly, then suddenly slumped, "No, if you were fully healed, you wouldn't have needed to be reborn in Setsuo's body."

Kisaragi nodded in agreement, "Hmm, you guessed right. My soul still has defects. Theoretically, it would take hundreds more reincarnations to fully mend, but I was lucky enough to meet Toji in my last life..."

That had been the only time his heart was stirred in a hundred lifetimes of reincarnation. Because he loved him so much, the thought of bearing his offspring had sprouted. As time passed, the deepening love even broke through the seals in his spiritual sense, allowing Kisaragi to use his spiritual body to conceive Megumi for Toji. But a body without spiritual power to nourish it could not hold a spiritual body for long. The consequence was that after giving birth to Megumi, that body fell into irreversible decay, eventually leading to death.

Logically, after the physical body died, his soul should have entered the cycle of reincarnation again. However, his soul remained trapped in that sea area. Not only did it not dissipate, but a strange power had been constantly repairing his soul. Five years surpassed a hundred lifetimes of reincarnation, which was the main reason he could bypass the cycle and possess this body. As for the premature awakening of his spiritual sense, it was entirely due to the special nature of Mochizuki Setsuo's body; he was not an ordinary person, but a spiritual body, a rarity in a thousand years.

Kisaragi Rokumei thought of the young man's cause of death, and a flash of murderous intent crossed his eyes—so fast that when Conan, sensing something wrong, looked up, it had already been replaced by a warm smile. "Conan, you can ask one more question. Are you sure you want to use it on me?"

Conan thought of his shrunken body, then belatedly recalled the other man's miraculous abilities, and hurriedly asked, "Brother Rokumei, do you have a way to restore my body?"

Kisaragi was stunned, "What's wrong with your body?"

"It's like this, I'm actually not Edogawa Conan, but the high schooler Kudo Shinichi. When I was accompanying Ran to an amusement park, I was forced to take a poison by men in black..."

Kisaragi interrupted, "Wait, what did you say?"

"I was forced to take a poison by men in black?"

"No, the sentence before that."

Conan answered blankly, "I'm the high schooler Kudo Shinichi? What about it?"

The filter of "innocent human child" shattered completely with that sentence. The gentleness vanished from Kisaragi Rokumei, and veins bulged on his forehead: "A high schooler like you has the nerve to act cute with me! Aren't you disgusted with yourself!"

*Thwack!*

Kisaragi Rokumei channeled his inner Mouri and mercilessly knocked a large bump onto Conan's head.

Conan: ...

He put on his "mask of pain."