Chapter 4: It Must Be a Girl...

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Kaifu Town, luxury apartment building, room 303.
Ikeda Hichio carried Ai Haibara inside.
Kitagawa Ando followed behind, nagging, “Mr. Ikeda, we should take her to the hospital and notify her family. I don’t understand her guardians—letting a child run around barefoot in the rain…”
Ikeda Hichio placed Ai Haibara in the bathtub.
Kitagawa Ando said, “Even if she’s unconscious and we can’t reach her family, we have to contact the police. Maybe her family is desperately searching for her right now…”
Ikeda Hichio took out a large bath towel.
Kitagawa Ando, seeing Ikeda remain silent, took the initiative and pulled out his phone. “Hmm? Senior Fukuyama’s number…”
Ikeda Hichio set the towel on the edge of the tub and looked up.
Kitagawa Ando suddenly felt a bad premonition. “Ike—”
A swift chop.
The world fell silent.
Ikeda Hichio steadied Kitagawa Ando with one hand, took the phone with the other, and calmly answered, imitating Kitagawa Ando’s voice. His face was expressionless, but his tone was full of apology. “Senior Fukuyama, we ran into a little trouble. No… cough, cough, we encountered a lost little girl on the road who got caught in the rain, she’s running a fever and passed out. We were about to take her to the hospital. Cough… yes, she probably caught a cold from the rain earlier; I’m a bit under the weather too. Please don’t worry, Mr. Ikeda is fine. I’ve already contacted the girl’s parents—they’re not in Tokyo but will be coming soon. Yes, we’ll leave as soon as they arrive.”
He hung up and continued to care for the drenched little girl.
Helped her bathe, wrapped her in the towel, and tucked her into bed.
Later, he would need to buy two sets of clothes for the girl, pick up the books the bookstore delivered downstairs, and buy two bentos to bring back since there was medicine at home but no food ingredients.
There was quite a lot to do.
…
Two hours later, the rain outside began to ease.
The lights in the living room and bedroom shone softly. Ikeda Hichio sat at his desk, browsing a webpage on his computer.
Taking advantage of this rare chance to access the internet freely, he searched information on the deep web.
Bounty hunters existed in this world, but there was no international investigation bureau.
To accept bounties, one had to contact the relevant department of a particular country, register, and obtain permission before acting.
In the U.S., it was the FBI or CIA; in Japan, the National Police Agency’s Security Bureau…
There were two ways to register.
One was to go directly in person—the identity of a bounty hunter was not necessarily secret. Many ostentatious bounty hunters existed worldwide. Upon arrival, they would be questioned, tested, and then recorded.
The other was to find the department’s website on the deep web, contact the administrator, and register anonymously online without meeting face to face.
In his previous life, Ikeda Hichio had used the first method.
Without much thought, he abandoned the first option this time.
He was still a psychiatric patient, even if discharged, his medical history remained. It was better to keep a low profile; one could never be sure he wouldn’t be dismissed for that reason…
He found the Public Security portal and sent a message:
[Bounty hunter registration, activity area: Japan]
The reply came swiftly: [Have you conducted bounty operations in other countries before? If yes, please provide code name and license number.]
Ikeda Hichio: [No prior bounty operations.]
Reply: [There are very few bounty hunters in Japan. Why choose to operate here?]
Ikeda Hichio: [Because I’m in Japan.]
That… made perfect sense!
The reply took nearly half a minute: [Please provide a code name.]
Ikeda Hichio: [July.]
Reply: [Preferred bounty payment method?]
He sent his anonymous foreign bank account: [2219…]
Reply: [Provide contact information.]
He registered a new email address: [8781…]
Reply: [Do you understand the scope of bounty hunter activities?]
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Ikeda Hichio: [Understood.]
As long as the pay was right, bounty hunters did almost anything—even delivery wasn’t off the table.
Besides that, there were assignments like treasure hunting and information gathering.
It seemed similar to detective work, but compared to detectives, bounty hunters faced higher-risk tasks such as apprehending dangerous criminals, or engaging in raids and assassinations—illegal activities.
The difference from mercenaries was that mercenaries mostly operated in groups with strict discipline, while bounty hunters were often lone wolves. Even when forming teams to compensate for weaknesses, the group rarely exceeded five members.
The administrator sent operational guidelines and a data packet: [We need to assess your abilities.]
Ikeda Hichio opened it to find:
Causing harm to innocents or deaths of criminals resulted in no payment and potential liability.
If caught executing illegal missions assigned by them, assistance might be given depending on circumstances; if arrested for personal illegal acts or illegal acts commissioned by others, no support would be provided.
Additional basic rules included confidentiality, providing one’s own tools and covering operational costs.
Nothing unexpected—similar to his previous life.
But help from them? He’d pass.
Sometimes it was better to forgo a mission than risk it. If you expect others to clean up your mess, you’d be disappointed.
The data packet included three bounty missions—
One to collect evidence against violent gang members, one to capture a serial killer, and one to protect a target.
Gathering evidence, capturing, and protection—three different approaches, serving as initial tests and evaluations.
Failing all three might mean the registration would be kept on file for some time, allowing him to work independently by hunting bounties on the list, but before proving his skill, they probably wouldn’t contact him again.
Truly challenging and lucrative bounties were usually internal affairs…
The protection mission lasted only three days but offered the highest reward.
The evidence gathering and capture missions had no time limit.
Logically, he should prioritize completing the protection mission and postpone the others.
Especially the capture mission—the information provided was just a photo and basic personal details. Who knew where the target was hiding?
Finding the person would require effort.
But the capture target was special… Numazawa Ichiro!
He had some faint memories of this story; who wouldn’t want to earn some easy money and reputation?
If only he could find Numazawa Ichiro before Conan…
But judging by the timing, Ai Haibara had already defected, and Numazawa Ichiro’s capture was likely imminent. Time was tight. Should he take this chance to stir things up?
Ikeda Hichio glanced at Kitagawa Ando, who was asleep on the sofa. The psychiatric hospital had been persuaded for now, but once Kitagawa woke up and he returned, he’d probably be under close observation and psychological counseling again.
There was some movement from the bedroom.
The half-closed door opened slightly, and Ai Haibara looked towards the living room, standing hesitantly at the entrance.
She had actually been awake for some time but was distressed on realizing she was changed into a neat, warm brown pajama set with a black round tail on the pants, making her mood complicated.
What kind of cute sleepwear was this?
No, the real question was—who changed her clothes?
She remembered encountering two men, mistakenly thinking they were from the organization, almost despairing. One of them had picked her up, and then she had fainted…
Before coming here, she comforted herself: maybe after these two men brought her back, their sister, younger sibling, or friend… someone like that helped buy clothes and changed her. Right, only a girl would pick such pajamas, only a girl would be so considerate, even buying matching brown bear slippers… matching underwear…
Then, opening the door and seeing no girls in the living room, her heart sank.
“Awake?” Ikeda Hichio looked up briefly, locked his computer screen, and stood to boil water in the kitchen. “There are bentos on the table. Eat first, then take your medicine.”
Ai Haibara watched Ikeda head to the kitchen, swallowing her words, silently walked to the table, picked up a bento box, and sat on the sofa, lowering her head to eat.
His calm demeanor left her at a loss for words.
Besides, if he asked about her family, she had to think about how to conceal the truth.
However, Ikeda did not ask…
When the water boiled, he poured a glass, placed the cold medicine he had found earlier on the table, then returned to his computer.
Ai Haibara ate while stealing glances at Kitagawa Ando sleeping on the opposite sofa.
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His jacket sleeves showed dried rain stains but he hadn’t taken it off, and his tie was tucked under his shoulder—not a natural sleep.
But watching his chest rise and fall, he was breathing, still alive…
Then she looked back at Ikeda, who seemed to be downloading something on his phone connected to the computer, showing no intention to speak.
Strangely…
Ai Haibara felt as if she were alone in the room. “I’m staying at a relative’s place. If I don’t return soon, they’ll worry.”
Ikeda Hichio: “You’ll go after taking the medicine.”
Ai Haibara: “…”
Silence.
One ate, the other watched the download progress on his phone.
About a minute later…
“You were the one who changed my clothes?” Ai Haibara asked.
“Yes,” Ikeda admitted, “I also helped you take a bath.”
“You bought the clothes too?” Ai Haibara looked uneasy.
Without looking up, Ikeda said, “Yes. Besides the pajamas, I bought you two sets of everyday clothes. When we go out later, you can pick one to change into. Your old lab coat was only worn over an ill-fitting T-shirt, and you weren’t wearing anything else underneath. All your clothes were soaked and dirty…”
Ai Haibara’s ears flushed instantly. She took a few bites quietly, thinking: after I shrank, my old clothes definitely wouldn’t fit. But why would a grown man be so thoughtful, even buying my underwear…!
She could buy her own once she woke up…
Another silence stretched for over a minute.
Ai Haibara finally spoke, “Thank you…”
Ikeda Hichio: “You’re welcome.”
Ai Haibara: “…”
Yet another long silence.
Ai Haibara: “What happened to him?”
Ikeda Hichio: “Ether.”
Ai Haibara: “…”
Was it so hard to say more?
Luckily, she understood—it meant he had used ether to knock him out…
Fortunately, Ikeda added, explaining, “It’s better to let him sleep for a while.”
Ai Haibara recalled hearing something earlier about the two men going somewhere. “I feel like I caused you trouble…”
“Not trouble,” Ikeda said, “I happen to have some matters to attend to.”
Seeing Ikeda unwilling to elaborate, Ai Haibara didn’t press further and looked at him. “Aren’t you curious why I was wandering the streets alone in the rain?”
Ikeda Hichio: “Nothing to be curious about.”
Ai Haibara: “Not even a little?”
Ikeda Hichio: “No.”
Ai Haibara: “…”
Speechless stare.
Ikeda Hichio: “…”
Calmly returning the gaze.
Ai Haibara lowered her head and continued eating.
She lost!