[HIATUS] The Scarlet Memories [Detective Conan OC] (English)

Chapter 21

I put the envelope on the table and look at the contents of the box.

Inside, there is a pendant put on what looks like a book. I take the necklace and observe its decoration. It is golden and oval-shaped, it looks like it can be opened. I turn it slowly between my fingers and open it. Two photos are glued in the inside. One shows Hiro-nii-chan and the other is someone I don't recognize. He looks slightly older and has a mustache as well as an air of malice.

I put the pendant on the table and take the book out of the box. On the cover is written "Scarlet Memories". I open it and find a commented photo album. I appear in the very first photos, with Hiro-nii-chan, who seems to be our parents, and our big brother. An annotation mentions him as "Takaaki-nii-san".

So that's his name...

I smile lightly and whisper that name several times in order to remember it. I continue reading and come across a page on which there is only Hiro-nii-chan pictured. He seems sad and insensitive to his surroundings.

"The trauma of that night made me aphasic."

That night...? What happened...?

"I couldn't even pronounce my own name anymore ... Especially since Takaaki-nii-san and I were separated: he stayed in Nagano while I was sent to Tokyo. That's where I met Zero! "

Nagano? Is he still there?

I turn the page. Hiro-nii-chan is still in the picture, but he's accompanied by another child. He looks a lot like Bourbon.

Is it him? No... It's unlikely that they have known each other for so long ... But if Bourbon is the "Zero" he talks about, it would coincide...

"He made life worth living again for me, and I quickly tried to search for you."

So it was that "night" that I disappeared ...

I continue to read the album, page by page. I'm learning more about Hiro-nii-chan. He became a police officer with that infamous Zero seven years ago, and they both infiltrated the organization two years later. After getting noticed with their skills, they were given code names: Scotch and Bourbon.

So that's why he hated me... They were not only colleagues but also long-time friends...

They were often together during their missions. Bourbon specialized in intelligence gathering while Hiro-nii-chan was a sniper. Shûichi too, by the way. It was during a mission for the organization that they met.

After having finished reading the whole album, I take the photo that was in the envelope, tears in my eyes.

Sorry, Hiro-nii... If I had stayed longer, I could have stopped you from-

I stop in my thoughts as I hear the door to Bourbon's room open.