[Conan] Black And Silver: The Bond Of Rivals Chapter 10
bySilent Confrontation: A Heart Not Yet Cold
Early morning in the deep mountains was exceptionally quiet, with only the sound of birds in the forest and a cool breeze brushing against the closed windows.
Shuichi Akai had not slept all night.
He leaned against the headboard, staying awake until dawn. Gin’s blunt confession echoed repeatedly in his mind—”I’ll wait for you to admit it yourself, that you have me in your heart.”
Reason told him he had to escape, return to the FBI, and continue fighting the Organization.
Yet, deep in his heart, that line of defense he refused to acknowledge was crumbling with every moment of silence.
The gunshot wound in Northern Europe, the explosion in Yokohama, standing side-by-side in the dead of night, the confrontation on a rainy evening…
Those images were so vividly hot that they couldn’t be erased by a simple “it was all fake.”
Creak—
Faint footsteps came from the living room.
Shuichi Akai immediately composed himself, returning to his usual calm and indifferent demeanor.
The door was pushed open gently, and Gin walked in.
He had changed out of his rain-soaked trench coat and wore only a tight black undershirt, which outlined his tall, cold, and hard physique. His silver-gray hair was loosely tied behind his head, making him look less murderous and more unusually relaxed.
He carried a simple breakfast: bread, fried eggs, and a cup of warm black coffee.
“Awake?”
Gin spoke in a tone so calm he didn’t seem like someone forcibly detaining a person, but rather like a long-time companion.
Shuichi Akai did not respond. He only looked up at him, his emerald eyes devoid of emotion.
Gin placed the breakfast on the low cabinet by the bed and sat down on the edge of the mattress.
The two were extremely close, their breaths audible to one another. The atmosphere instantly became tense and ambiguous.
“Not eating?” He raised an eyebrow slightly, his fingertips lightly touching the coffee cup. “Or are you thinking about how to leave?”
Shuichi Akai spoke flatly, his voice deep: “You can’t keep me here.”
“Whether you stay or not isn’t for you to decide.”
Gin leaned in closer, his cold green eyes locking onto him. “Shuichi Akai, stop using your position to lie to me, and to yourself.”
“The mission can be fake, the identity can be fake, but the reaction in a life-or-death moment cannot be faked.”
Shuichi Akai’s fingertips twitched.
The words he least wanted to face were easily exposed by Gin.
“I didn’t,” he insisted, though his voice was slightly raspy.
“You didn’t?”
Gin suddenly gave a low chuckle, his laughter carrying a hint of self-deprecation and a trace of gentle persistence. “Then tell me, on the day your identity was exposed at Haido Port, why didn’t you dodge?”
“Knowing I would strike, why didn’t you dodge?”
“Knowing I hated you, why did you still stand there, waiting for me to come to you?”
The series of questions hit Shuichi Akai so hard he couldn’t argue back.
He closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
When he opened them again, his eyes were swirling with a complexity he himself refused to admit.
“Gin, we are enemies,” he said word by word, as if reminding the other man and forcing himself to believe it. “We have been from the very beginning.”
“Enemies?”
Gin suddenly reached out and gently stroked his cheek. His fingertips were slightly cool, and the movement was uncharacteristically tender.
“Then I would rather live in your lies forever.”
“At least then, you were by my side.”
The air froze instantly.
Shuichi Akai’s heart jolted violently.
He wanted to pull away, but his body was stiff and unable to move.
The sincerity and concern in the eyes of this ruthless, bloodthirsty, and cold-hearted man were so real they made him panic.
Just as the atmosphere was about to spiral out of control—
Beep, beep—
An extremely faint, almost inaudible electronic sound flashed by from the distant forest outside the window.
Gin’s eyes suddenly turned cold.
He pulled his hand back sharply, stood up, and walked to the window. He pulled back a corner of the curtain and looked toward the distant woods.
“Someone is coming.”
He spoke in a low voice, his tone reverting to that of the cold Organization assassin. “Your comrades have found this place.”
Shuichi Akai’s nerves also tightened instantly.
Was it Jodie?
Or… Conan?
Gin turned to look at him, a cold sharpness flashing in his green eyes, along with an inescapable dominance.
“Want them to rescue you?”
“Fine.”
He walked slowly back to the bedside, leaned down, and left a low, serious remark in Shuichi Akai’s ear:
“But remember this—”
“I’m letting you go this time.”
“Next time, I will drag you and your light together into this fate.”
“And we will never be apart again.”