In the evening, the setting sun reflected on the shimmering surface of the lake. Red maple leaves danced in the wind, creating a picturesque scene with the distant waterfall and the small boat nearby.
Yuu Hoshimiya stood atop the Satsuki Hall, gazing at the boat in the center of the lake.
There were only three people on the boat, all dressed in traditional Japanese martial arts attire.
President Achiwa wore grey, Mikiko wore black and white, and Momiji wore red and blue.
Rowing like a fisherman, President Achiwa looked quite like an ancient Japanese scholar—if one ignored the crimes he had committed.
Although Yuu didn't consider the Satsuki Cup final a major event, both Momiji and Mikiko took it extremely seriously.
Naturally, Yuu wouldn't ruin the match. He planned to expose President Achiwa's crimes only after it ended.
He had already spoken with Heizo Hattori about this; otherwise, Inspector Otaki wouldn't have brought just two officers earlier.
After taking the elevator up, Momiji and the others entered the Satsuki Hall. The match was broadcast live to the audience in the Achiwa Hall.
Inside the hall, Kazuha clenched her fists. "Mikiko, you have to do your best!"
President Achiwa served as the reader for this match, reciting the first half of every poem.
Just as he was about to take a carefully prepared set of new cards from a box, Momiji stopped him.
She pulled out the box of traditional cards from her bosom and said, "President, as the final of the Satsuki Cup, how can we not use the traditional cards passed down for twenty years? All previous matches used these cards, and today should be no exception."
Mikiko's face lit up with surprise upon seeing the cards.
On the live screen, President Achiwa couldn't hide his shock.
He turned pale and asked, losing his composure, "Momiji, where did you get those cards? Weren't they destroyed in the explosion at the TV station?"
Following Yuu's instructions, Momiji replied, "I happened to bring them out with me during the evacuation, saving them from the fire."
"Mikiko, is it okay to use these cards for the match?"
Mikiko looked excited. "Of course! Playing with the traditional Satsuki cards has been my lifelong dream. I couldn't ask for more!"
Hearing both of them insist, President Achiwa frowned, unable to refuse their request.
Although he had a bad premonition, the Satsuki Cup was his wife's life's work, and the competition had reached this stage. He couldn't stop it now, so he could only say:
"In that case, please do your best and show us a magnificent match!"
The two girls exchanged a glance, their eyes full of fighting spirit.
The audience in the hall grew excited watching the screen.
"In Naniwa Bay, the flowers bloom..."
As the poem was recited, both girls moved simultaneously.
However, Momiji was faster, swiping several cards from her territory.
This elicited another wave of cheers from the hall.
Hearing the chanting from inside, Yuu leaned against the railing outside, quietly enjoying the scenery of the lake and mountains, waiting for the curtain to fall on this match.
It must be said that while hard work is important, talent is indispensable.
Although Mikiko, as the president of the Kaiho High club, had always worked hard, she couldn't compare to Momiji, who possessed immense talent and had been guided by a famous teacher.
It was a complete crush. Momiji's offense was like a storm of pear blossoms; Mikiko couldn't even defend the cards in her own territory.
The result was no surprise. After twelve rounds, Momiji Ooka won the match cleanly.
Moreover, she had taken all six cards describing Momiji (maple leaves) and stacked them in a specific way.
The match ended, but President Achiwa stared blankly at the six stacked cards, forgetting to announce the result.
"President! President!"
Hearing the girls' reminders, he snapped out of it.
"I declare the winner of this Satsuki Cup to be Momiji Ooka! Congratulations on winning the championship for the third consecutive time!"
The audience in the hall cheered, chanting Momiji's name loudly.
"Momiji!" "Momiji!" "Momiji!"
Ran watched in amazement. "I didn't expect Miss Ooka to be so popular!"
Yuu had no intention of kicking someone when they were down or showing off any further.
Additionally, although he was speechless at President Achiwa's thought process, he respected the man's love for his wife.
So, Yuu didn't mind leaving him and the late Mrs. Satsuki a final shred of dignity.
About an hour later, when the dust had settled and even the reporters had left, Yuu finally notified the police to make the arrest.
Of course, President Achiwa denied everything at first, sternly demanding lawyers and threatening to call the press.
But when the police showed him the video of Kaieda confessing everything, his expression changed instantly.
Still, he refused to give up, claiming he was being framed.
Until Yuu walked up to Momiji, picked up the six cards describing Momiji, and spread them out.
A dark red fingerprint appeared instantly.
President Achiwa's face changed drastically. He rushed toward Yuu, trying to snatch the cards, but was easily subdued.
President Achiwa fell to the ground, causing the girls who had stayed behind with Yuu to gasp.
"President Achiwa, I originally intended to give you a chance to surrender. Now it seems I have to explain everything myself."
Although the evidence was conclusive, President Achiwa's motive remained a mystery.
Everyone looked at Yuu curiously, while President Achiwa slumped in defeat.
"Truly, your reputation is well-earned. You knew everything. Hahaha! I thought since we only met once, it wouldn't be possible... it shouldn't be possible!"
This was essentially a confession. While shocked, everyone was even more curious about the truth.
Yuu didn't keep them in suspense and began to explain.
"Last year, when Momiji won the championship here, she stacked the cards the same way her teacher, Shikao Nagora, taught her. This pieced together a crucial piece of evidence!"
"This happened to be noticed by Yajima, who was constantly studying Momiji's techniques by watching tapes. He saw a dark red stain formed on the six Momiji cards."
"Yajima checked old tapes and found the stain appeared five years ago, realizing the truth of what happened back then!"
Momiji asked, "What exactly is that stain?"
"It's a fingerprint. Someone with Nagora's blood on their finger left it on the cards, distributed perfectly across the six Momiji cards."
Momiji gasped. "Teacher's blood!"
Yuu continued.
"In fact, everyone thought Mr. Nagora went missing, but he was actually murdered. And this bloody fingerprint on the cards was left by the real killer!"
President Achiwa stood up hurriedly. "As expected of the famous Police Consultant. I admit it. I killed Shikao Nagora."
"But Consultant Hoshimiya, I can confess, but I have a request. Can you leave these cards in the Satsuki Hall?"
At this point, knowing he couldn't escape, President Achiwa wanted to hide his late wife's crime and preserve her reputation.
Momiji took a few steps back, shocked and tearful at the sudden news of her teacher's death.
Yuu had already given him enough face, but he insisted on pushing it this far.
He shook his head. "Even now, you still want to cover it up?"
"Actually, the one who killed Shikao Nagora five years ago wasn't you, but your wife, Mrs. Satsuki, right?"
"Five years ago, on the night before the open match, Nagora challenged Mrs. Satsuki to a duel. That was the night he died, wasn't it?"
Still trying to protect his wife's honor, President Achiwa argued vehemently: "Consultant Hoshimiya, my wife was frail and sickly! How could she kill anyone? I killed Nagora! I sank his body to the bottom of the lake under the Satsuki Hall! I did it all! It has nothing to do with my wife!"
Yuu ignored the agitated man and continued.
"President Achiwa, it's time you knew some things. Momiji, tell the President why your teacher insisted on challenging Mrs. Satsuki five years ago!"
Momiji nodded.
"President, I don't know what conflict you had five years ago that led to murder, but my teacher had no ill intentions in challenging Mrs. Satsuki!"
"No ill intentions! No ill intentions!"
Hearing this, Kensuke Achiwa laughed coldly.
"No ill intentions! Then why was he so aggressive back then? Kyoto and Osaka had always stayed out of each other's way. Why did he insist on challenging my wife and publicizing it in the media?!"
"He even came for a duel before the match! And after winning, he wasn't satisfied; he wanted to humiliate my wife! If not for that... my wife... how could she have killed him?!"
A flush of anger appeared on Momiji's face.
"President! My teacher would never humiliate Mrs. Satsuki!"
A look of reminiscence appeared in Momiji's eyes.
"The reason Teacher was so anxious to challenge Mrs. Satsuki was that he had developed an eye disease. The doctor said his career in competitive Karuta would last only one more year at most."
"That's why he was so impatient, so desperate to play against Mrs. Satsuki."
"Teacher once said he started playing Karuta because of Mrs. Satsuki. All he wanted was to win against her and hear a word of praise from her own lips."
"Because Mrs. Satsuki was the person Teacher Nagora secretly loved. How could he possibly humiliate her after winning?"
Hearing this, President Achiwa looked stunned.
"Nagora... loved Satsuki? But why did he challenge her the night before the match? It was that crushing defeat that made Satsuki lose all confidence."
"Satsuki valued Karuta more than her own life. The Satsuki Society was at its peak back then. If she lost the open match, she would have to disband the society. That would have been a fatal blow to her!"
"Because Satsuki was under immense pressure and afraid of losing the open match, she impulsively killed Shikao Nagora!"
Hearing that her teacher was killed by the woman he loved, tears streamed down Momiji's face.
"How could she kill him for that? Teacher never intended to win the open match. didn't he say the loser would disband their society?"
"Teacher's goal was simple. He couldn't continue teaching us after a year, so he wanted all his disciples, including me, to join the Satsuki Society!"
"He came for the duel beforehand just to get a compliment from Mrs. Satsuki. He also wanted to show her his techniques in advance so she could beat him in the open match the next day!"
"How could you kill him like that?"
Tears fell freely from Momiji's eyes.
Hearing this, Kensuke Achiwa's pupils contracted violently as he looked up at the setting sun.
"How... how could it be like this?"
"What have Satsuki and I done?! What have we done?!"
Achiwa collapsed to the ground, wiping his tears with his sleeve.
The girls and the police in the hall sighed with emotion upon hearing such a twisted series of murders born entirely of misunderstanding.
Conan and Heiji glared at Yuu with dead-fish eyes.
Both were full of resentment. No wonder they felt something was missing; Yuu held the most crucial clue all along.
They had hoped to beat Yuu once, but he had already uncovered the truth from five years ago.
Yuu just felt speechless.
Just like he couldn't understand why Achiwa didn't simply burn the cards instead of resorting to murder and bombings.
Nagora secretly loved a married woman, yet instead of confessing, he orchestrated a challenge and crushed her in a private duel...
Honestly, any normal person would have thought the same as the Achiwa couple.
Speechless as he was, Yuu had gotten used to it after so many cases.
In the Conan world, misunderstandings like this weren't rampant, but they certainly weren't rare.
Surprise the first time, shock the second, speechlessness the third... by the fourth or fifth time, you just get used to it.
About ten minutes later, Kensuke Achiwa finally stopped crying.
"Consultant Hoshimiya, Inspector Toyama, I won't run. But... can I stay here at the Satsuki Hall a little longer?"
"President Achiwa, death won't solve anything. We know the Satsuki Hall was built for you to mourn your wife, perhaps even as a place to die with her."
Ginshiro Toyama stepped forward and said proactively, "Consultant Hoshimiya already told us. During the match, I had my men disable the self-destruct mechanism in the hall. So, President Achiwa, please come with us quietly!"
Hearing this, Achiwa smiled bitterly.
"Consultant Hoshimiya... truly calculated everything!"
The Satsuki Hall had a special mechanism that could sink the entire structure into the lake.
Now that his crimes were exposed, Achiwa wanted to trigger it and end his life.
But since Yuu knew, he obviously wouldn't leave the device intact and entrust the girls' safety to Achiwa's conscience.
When Ginshiro arrived with the police, Yuu had them disable the device immediately.
With no other path left, President Achiwa allowed the police to handcuff him, admitting his guilt.
The group took the elevator down and rode the boat from the Satsuki Hall to the Achiwa Hall on the opposite shore.
Under the setting sun, Yuu rowed the boat. Achiwa sat at the stern, looking despondent. Hearing the truth, he realized how many foolish things he had done.
His wife killed out of misunderstanding, and he killed and bombed to hide the truth.
If Nagora had just spoken clearly five years ago, none of this would have happened.
Momiji held the box of traditional cards, her cat-like eyes fixed on Yuu, her heart filled with amazement.
So Yuu-kun had rushed back to get these cards during the explosion yesterday because he already knew the truth then? That was incredible!
Upon landing, Otaki hurried to put Achiwa in the police car.
Achiwa was a celebrity, after all. Although Yuu had waited for the reporters to leave, if any stragglers were still around, it would be troublesome.
Of course, this couldn't be kept secret forever. By tomorrow at the latest, the Osaka Police Headquarters would likely be surrounded by reporters.
If they were fast, reporters might be blocking the door tonight.
Next, Yuu told Ran and the others to go back and pack their luggage while he went to the Osaka Police Headquarters with Momiji to give a statement and assist in the investigation.
Hearing that Yuu was really leaving, Shizuka's gaze grew complicated, and Kazuha looked reluctant to let him go, but they could only watch as he got into the police car and left.
An hour later, in a quiet room of a tea house near the Osaka Police Headquarters, a soft body threw itself into Yuu's arms, wrapping her jade-like arms tightly around him.
Tears welled up in Momiji Ooka's beautiful cat-like eyes again, her delicate face full of reluctance.
"Yuu-kun, are you really leaving tonight?"
"No! I won't allow it! I still want to go shopping with you, watch movies, go on dates... I won the championship! How can you leave so soon?"
"Yuu-kun, can you stay a few more days?" Momiji's eyes were full of hope.
"I told you, we'll meet again very soon."
Looking at the expectant girl in his arms, Yuu decided to reveal his plan.
Although he was returning to Tokyo, he had resigned from his teaching job, so he could return to Osaka immediately.
Not only did he want to strike while the iron was hot and claim Momiji Ooka, but there was also one last, rather important matter to handle in Osaka.
Through Noah's intelligence gathering and his past life memories, Yuu had a rough idea of what Akako Koizumi meant by the "End of Dharma Era."
It happened three years ago. Roughly speaking, Earth faced a crisis, and a high school protagonist and his friends solved it.
After the crisis was resolved, the supernatural elements of the Conan world faded away, entering the End of Dharma Era.