Getting the call straight to Genzo took half an hour.

When he first got the news, he was simmering with rage. Two of his men had been posted in the shop with Michio's mother: Another two were stationed outside the car park. Having listened to Shinichi's report, his anger was obviously rising with every passing minute. Having paced up and down earlier in the hospital hallway earlier, his jaw set like a rock. He told himself when Michio recovers, he will scold them.

As soon as he was declared safe to go home, he did so alongside Michio's mother. But then Shinichi was someone who he did not expect to defend their actions.

Kudo Shinichi has always been a reasonable boy, a kid full of righteousness in Genzo's opinion, unlike Kudo Ranran who is morally grey. So when he initially got word that Shinichi is currently Ranran's apprentice, he didn't think much that her teachings may bring harm or even destroy his beliefs in general. During the first two major cases Tantei Association was involved in, Genzo saw no signs of that Shinichi being morally corrupted.

So when Shinichi threatened to involve his family regarding their livelihoods after they 'spoke ill of Ranran, he was not expecting him to defend Ranran's character. This shocked Michio's mother so much to the core, she almost went ballistic if it wasn't for Michio to drag her out to calm her down. Genzo was even more surprised when Junko, someone who hated Ranran but is close to Ran, leapt to Shinichi's defence.

"With all due respect, as much as Ranran was in the wrong, had The Snake not sent his bloody daughter to go after Michio, let alone the law being all so crappy about protecting children from criminal families, we wouldn't have resorted to this!"

"Fuyuko!" Shinichi was wide-eyed, not expecting this either.

"Wait, daughter!? What daughter!?" Genzo couldn't grab the concept of what she was talking about.

"The Snake had a daughter! Her name is Adeline or Adelind! She is around the same age as us, and she has experience using a gun! Don't tell me you didn't read the rest of the report Shinichi had put down?!" Takuma tried to jolt his head, only to remember that Ranran previously mentioned the cops had no idea of that girl's existence in a previous meeting held within HQ.

Genzo then raised an eyebrow. "Was it on the last page? I stopped reading after the part when it revealed The Snake is involved, because one of you suddenly made a call, and that was about it as soon as I rushed over to the hospital to see Michio." Genzo asked, face perfectly composed and mind reeling.

Shinichi cleared his throat, it was evident Genzo was not expecting this, "Yes, I did put that down on the last page."

Thoughts raced through Genzo's head as he felt like his head split open at that info. Throughout working on cases relating to The Snake, there was never any indication to suggest that The Snake had a child with anyone biologically.

Even if he was seen in those adult bars with women surrounding him, the intel always return to him just using them as a façade to enforce his position as a criminal mastermind, and he never actually slept with any of them. This was a huge surprise to Genzo since nowadays most gangsters do so to assert dominance. At some point when he discussed with the others The Snake's absent love life, one of them is even convinced that he must be into men.

But then Junko's words changed all of that: He had a daughter, that's why he didn't seem interested in any of those women.

At first, Genzo did not know what to think of this. But when Junko revealed his daughter using a gun, that set off his alarm bells. A gun!? From a 10-year-old!?

Genzo shouldn't be surprised by this revelation, when Ranran's dad told him he and his wife taught Ranran to use a gun when she turned 6 to protect herself, he was shaking. But for a criminal to teach his kid...perhaps in his mind, Genzo thinks it was for the same cause, since The Snake runs a criminal empire involving the most dangerous criminals of Japan, Yakuzas included, he can't completely leave his kid defenceless.

Then Junko revealed disturbing details of her attempting to infiltrate the association to locate the founder, how Ranran and Shinichi had been investigating her behind her back etc, it was too much for the sergeant to take in. Before he could enquire further about the child's background, Shinichi decided he had to put a stop to this, "Mr Genzo, I don't really know much about her, but all I know is that she isn't trustworthy, and based on the report, this part of the investigation is where we have to step in and not get you involved."

"Excuse me!?" Genzo was furious that this was a kid telling him what he should and shouldn't do. Who is the real adult and child in this relationship?

"Sergeant Genzo, you read Shinichi's report, right!? The part where it references children who do similar crimes as The Snake around our age will never go to jail in Japan...was that a hoax Ranran simply made up!? Or was it truly the case!?" Junko confronted him with those facts.

"I-"

Genzo had a tough time attempting to lie, but judging his body language, it was pretty clear to Junko that what Ranran said was nothing but the truth. "If you knew that is the case, then it was pointless to even tell any of you from the beginning, thinking that you would be able to protect us from his vicious daughter even after making arrests towards The Snake!" That made Genzo clamp up as Junko snaps viciously like a prowling tiger, "If it hadn't been for Ranran, the whole lot of you would let that vixen go since she is a child like us and continue to let her run amock, killing all of us in the process!"

"V-vixen!?" Takuma found himself repeating Junko's choice of words.

"Now now, Fuyuko, this is an entirely-"

"No! It is a big deal!" The spectacle girl snapped back at the man. "A vixen like her is the reason why Michio and the rest of them dragged them into this mess! And she must pay for her crimes! Even though she is a child like us!"

Michio who was returning after having comforted his agitated mother across the hallway of the association was a little stump when he overhears Junko's passionate speech about wanting The Snake's daughter to be thrown behind bars. Gazing at her through the window made him in awe at her words. If she wasn't so controlling or suffocating, Michio could've praised her without a doubt.

"Miss Fuyuko," Clearing his throat while trying to calm down upon dealing with Junko's intense emotions, he gave her a serious stare while Michio re-enters the office, "The reason I was furious is that had you told all of this in advance, it could've explained why our German colleague, Werner Schmidt, went missing while he was supposed to be on duty today!"

"Say what now!?" Takuma and the rest of the children exchanged looks of shock before directing at Genzo, "Mr Werner is missing!? How did that happen!?"

"We have no clue!" Genzo felt frustrated over the developments from both the association and his workplace, "He was supposed to show up this morning at around 8 am, but we soon realized that he was kidnapped as soon as 2 minutes went by!"

"Excuse me, 2 minutes!?" Junko became sceptical at his words, "That sounds like someone is being impatient."

"Forgive me for being rude, but he could've been arriving late at that time. Not everyone is punctual when they do something." Michio suggested.

Even Shinichi nods in agreement with the elder boy, "I agree! I mean is difficult to wake Ranran up every morning before we head to school, she doesn't take punctuality seriously!"

"That I can vouch as her friend," The athlete as well as the rest of the children nodded in agreement.

Unfortunately, this did not convince Genzo, "Mr Werner takes punctuality very seriously, being a German, the culture Pünktlichkeit (Punctuality) is ingrained in most of their citizens! Call it a stereotype, but they do take this seriously! And I know this, because Werner-kun's partner, the unfortunate Kagawa Masumi whom you all saved the other day, experience it first-hand during their police academy days!"

"Wait, Masumi and Werner knew each other that way back?!" Shinichi found himself becoming curious about that chapter of their lives.

"Yes, it was the talk among everyone back then," Genzo recalled the early days when he started enrolling in the academy, "When I started out there as a student, I got word from my senior that they used to hate each other because of Werner's punctuality. You see back then, in the dorms, we sleep in, single beds are placed right next to each other to make room, and Masumi's was unfortunately placed right next to Werner's."

"When you say unfortunately...you meant...?" Junko couldn't figure out where the man was heading with this.

"For us at the academy, around 7 am we had to wake up and gather at a venue on time. Masumi himself is a heavy sleeper, but Werner, on the other hand, was so worried about not being there on time, he had 5 alarm clocks placed beside his short drawer which was placed in between his and Masumi's bed to wake him up."

"I am sorry, f-five alarm clocks!? Jesus Christ, is he trying to wake up a cow or what!?" Takuma blurted out in horror, even Shinichi felt 5 is overboard ridiculous.

"Not one cow, several cows!" Michio is beginning to ponder Werner's questionable life choices.

"With that many clocks, Masumi must have been pissed off!" Junko suddenly made the connection, "I mean his bed is right next to his!"

"Oh yes, he was in fact so pissed off, this went on for 2 months. By this point, my senior later revealed Masumi was so pissed off, he later took a bucket of cold water and splash it onto him while Werner was asleep, it led to a huge fight and they got into serious trouble. Almost expelled, if I might add."

With the rest of the children thinking about those five clocks and muttering what sort of sicko uses it to wake themselves up, Genzo decided he had to get to the main point, "Anyway, it was thanks to this reputation that stuck with him till now, when one of the officials headed over to his rented apartment to check, there were things smashed all over his living room, indicating a struggle. Oh yeah, his door wasn't locked when we arrived."

Gulping, "Do you think The Snake's got him, too?"Michio blurted out.

"I don't know, what do you think?" Sergeant Genzo told him. "Anyway, should anything happen to him or your friends, since all of you with-held information, I'll hold you all responsible! You hear me!? And as for that girl, if any of you caught her, bring her to us!"

Without warning, a wave of guilt crashed down on Shinichi and the rest of them as the man stormed out of the office and slam slide the door shut.

....

It wasn't easy to convince Majima Mio, Michio's mom, to not contact any of their parents to reveal their ruby assignment studies were a sham.

But then Shinichi's working experience with Ranran suddenly paid off when he was able to use a different sort of tactic to prevent this. With quick thinking, he convince her that the association members are currently working with Genzo to retrieve their friends back and that tipping their parents off right now would not be the appropriate move at the moment.

That was a lie, the kids knew it.

But Junko who was desperate to put an end to this Adelind girl, as well as the rest who are eager to throw The Snake behind bars, lied alongside Shinichi. It wasn't a complete lie either, since Genzo recently learnt that The Snake was involved in the Ruby case, and did tell them not to hide anymore things from him before leaving.

So for the time being, the pending anger from their parents is being put on hold for now.

As for now, Shinichi is all alone in the main HQ, with papers scattered across the table involving the ruby case, detailing the bio of the undercover police Interpol members to The Snake, his daughter, as well as the rest of the details surrounding the Rajah ruby case. Earlier he and the rest of them had dinner before Takuma, Junko and Michio decided they needed a shower, so they left to use the public bathhouse while he was left alone to deal with the paperwork.

With his guilt over what led to the kidnapping of those girls, especially Ranran, he felt a little suffocated by this aspect. Especially when Takuma read out 'Ranran's Contingency plan' in the association earlier.

.............

After Genzo had left, Shinichi knew it was time for that contingency plan to be revealed before the rest of the members.

When Tantei Association was set up, Ranran suggested a letter needed to be drafted should either she or Shinichi land into serious trouble. And so, the 'CP' motto, 'Contingency Plan', was born.

The kidnapping incident during the two major cases led Ranran to come up with such a solution, since everyone in her opinion felt as if they were headless chickens, running aimlessly with no direction. It's like a king who unexpectedly dies, and no one knows who would be the eventual crown prince that will take over the throne and kingdom, so it led to more bloodbaths along the way thanks to a power struggle (All of this were Ranran's words, and Shinichi was a shock to learn that royalty in real life is violent as hell).

Similar to one preparing a will to ensure inheritance ended up in the right hands by the executor, Takuma was appointed by Ranran to read out the contents and administer everything that is to say on behalf of Kudo Ranran. Initially, everyone was surprised that she didn't pick Shinichi, her apprentice, to be the one to do so. Since she and he were deemed 'close'.

However, Emiko mentioned the reason Ranran do this is to ensure fairness within the group. It would've been biased to pick someone who is close to her to issue out whatever role they are given in the letter.

Standing at the centre of the table, the situation felt tense with no one knowing what to expect as Takuma broke open the flap of the envelope, written with a beautiful cursive signature 'Kudo Ranran's CP" on it.

Takuma then flips through the pages and reads through all of them while the remaining members: Shinichi, Junko and Michio prep their ears to listen in full detail.

"To Kudo Shinichi. Should I, Kudo Ranran, go missing or is at risk of dying during a case investigation, you are to become the interim founder of Tantei Association with immediate effect."

Shinichi's lips parted and his eyes grew wide as the reality of the words hit him. He sat, frozen in his chair, "You're kidding, right?" Junko said before she could think better of it. "How long was this CP updated? Was it before their feud this morning?"

Under the rules of the association, similar to a will, Shinichi announced a CP is allowed to be revised by the person who wrote the letter. Inspecting the letter's date, Takuma shook his head, "No, this was updated around this afternoon."

"Seriously!?" Michio said before he could think better of it. "Why would she....?"

Takuma gave everyone a puzzled look before disregarding the comment and continuing, "Should any of the members happen to be the cause behind my supposed demise with unreasonable and malicious intent, the successor is to punish the member in the cruellest way possible."

Suddenly, the atmosphere turned chilling cold, as cold as the weather outside. Even with the heater in the HQ on, it still feels cold within their veins. For a moment, everyone froze and stopped at what they were doing.

That's when everyone in the room was drawn back into reality, over why she updated it this afternoon.

Ranran wants to punish Mouri Ran, through Shinichi!

In a way, that sounded cruel since she and Shinichi had a history. At the same time, however, the distance between him and her had gone south so viciously that to everyone hearing this, it wouldn't be incomprehensible to execute the order.

Also, Shinichi is solving cases of dark nature now unlike in the past. When he became her apprentice, it wasn't meant to be a free lunch. Michio pinched his own nose bridge with his hands in response.

"That Kudo Ranran! I know that Mouri is at fault this time for Michio's kidnapping, but ain't this a step too far!?" Junko smashes the table in anger, tossing dagger-like stares onto the apprentice, "Kudo, you are not going to do it, are you!? I know you are no longer on speaking terms anymore, but-"

"I will."

"Eh~!?" Junko blinked repeatedly.

"Takuma, what else is in the letter?" Shinichi's wearied voice urged him to continue, and at the same time, was still in shock that Ranran appointed him as the interim founder. Especially after he voiced how distrustful he was towards her the other day when Mamiko planted false lies about her.

"On a technicality, Ranran did not specify it was directly at Mouri, so unless you want to become a co-conspirator with that lunatic and be punished alongside her, feel free to join along for the ride, Fuyuko Junko." Takuma's harsh words shut Junko up abruptly.

..............

As absurd as it sounds, although Shinichi has the right to not execute it, the events that followed were something he knew he had to do so.

Not because Ranran said so, Shinichi isn't one would call the most overly loyal to a fault like a servant. He can't be ordered what he should and should not do. Even so, he could hardly not feel bitter at all and deep down, wants to do what Ranran suggested in the letter.

What she wrote in the letter was her presenting him the opportunity to kick Ran out.

Because she knew Ran presents a danger to everyone through her emotions, it was necessary to use one unforgivable incident that he knew no matter how hard Ran pleads, she can never escape her mistake this time and shrink of responsibility. And this kidnapping was unexpected, but whether Ranran made it out alive or deceased, it was a good justification for punishment.

As happy as he was, deep down, he felt bitter about one thing: Would Ranran make it home alive?

He knew he shouldn't be feeling like this, Emiko and Ran were also victims of the kidnapping, but overall, when they join the HQ, it was with the intention of judging Ranran rather than seeking justice, unlike the boys. Although Ranran's motives mostly consisted of revenge, she didn't exhibit the behaviour whereby was to the point she was diving into madness like that guy in the Joker movie despite suffering such tragedies around her.

Of course, he had no doubts that she would be able to survive, but with two girls who still held no trust for her, especially Mouri Ran, her chances of survival are plummeting. Emiko is as chill as a cucumber, but Ran is another.

Don't get him wrong, Kudo Shinichi had looked forward to this day of being acknowledged as a detective of equal standing as his mentor, but it wouldn't lie well within his conscience if Ranran dies because of his history with Ran. The last thing he wants is for Ranran to die because of Ran's recklessness. Otherwise...if she returns in a body bag, this will haunt him for life.

Takuma was the first to return to the HQ feeling afresh, a nice hot spring bath during a cold winter does wonders for him. Rejuvenated, he turn to see Shinichi and to his surprise, his expression look forlorn and broken.

Before all of this took place, Takuma always think that Shinichi was someone who never had any problems in life as he was born with privilege. He left Takuma with the impression that he was someone who is arrogant, a little bit of an airhead when it came to girls, but with an admirable work ethic for a detective. Constantly taking in cases without choosing selectively to shoot him to the spotlight, even if they were menial. And for someone to maintain friendships since kindergarten was difficult nowadays, so he perceive him to be a very loyal friend to last this long.

But after hearing about the video Sonoko was in, and Ran's misbehaviour deriving from Mamiko, not to mention, all of this had been going on behind his back even before Shinichi parted ways with the two, he realized that Shinichi had unknowingly been living in a lie. If someone were to tell him back then that he would eventually need to punish the friends who had been supposedly loyal but secretly backstabbing him, Shinichi would've thought of this as a sick joke.

And now that this has become a reality, Takuma is certain the reason Shinichi is feeling depressed is that he is either hesitant to execute the order, which he doubts, given that he knows he is making attempts to get rid of Ran.

....or, in Takuma's personal opinion, he is fearing that Ranran might die because of his schemes to remove Ran from the HQ.

Ran sabotaging Shinichi's phone had many layers of evil, and if Ranran seriously ends up in front of Heaven's gate, Takuma is planning to throw her in juvenile. How is he going to do this? He is uncertain since he knows the law protects murderers that are young in age, but no matter what, the behaviour of excessive harassment, stalking, and bullying on Ranran had gone too far! Even more appalling was that Sonoko downplayed it as if they made a big deal out of nothing!

Gaslighting, those two idiots are gaslighting and making it as if it was the victim's fault! That Ranran is the root of their suffering when they were the ones who pushed Shinichi to Ranran!

Collecting to calm himself down, he grabbed a seat and sat opposite Shinichi, waking him from the trance. "For her to appoint you as the successor of the association should she pass away, it means Ranran trusted you a lot," Takuma suddenly brought up the CP letter, "That meant your talent is worthy here."

"No, I wouldn't even make it this far without Ranran," He muttered before setting the paper aside, masking his sadness with a busy-like appearance.

"I see," Takuma hummed. "It sounds as if you don't have confidence towards yourself."

"I do, but I ain't up to Ranran's level," Shinichi shook his head at him. "The kidnapping earlier was my mistake."

It was Shinichi's fault all because he wanted to sever the strings between Mamiko and his former friends to set Ranran free. The chain of events of this plan led to Ranran's kidnapping along with the others. All because Ran wouldn't let him go, that she hate Ranran this far to not let him be happy.

And Takuma knew what he was referring to, as he was in the loop. "You can't say that unless you can see the future."

Shinichi plays with his hands numbly. "I knew Ran and Sonoko were making me unhappy the whole time, Takuma. I knew."

"Kudo..."

"When Ranran told me to get those two to distance themselves from me during the Extinction Heist case, she gave me the option not to sever ties with them, you know? But I wanted it, in a way, I saw this as an opportunity to have a fresh start away from them. Before, I was 'Shinichi, Ran's husband', but the association changed all of that and people has started coming up to me personally now to solve cases whenever Ranran is far too busy. Sure, it took a lot of effort for others to put their faith in me since they began requesting Ranran's services more often. She has a year of experience. But overtime, I had people come up to me nowadays more now without doubting my abilities whenever she is absent. People started calling me 'The Gifted Apprentice' and not some husband of someone."

Repositioning himself from his seat, he then adds, "With that said, my worth in this HQ is never going to shine brighter as long as I am constantly being overshadowed by Ran, or Sonoko, or even that psychotic Mamiko. I felt trapped, by three girls! What a joke my life has become!" He laughs without any humour.

Takuma frowns. "Kudo..." He sighs, trying to find the right words. "Your worth in this HQ isn't defined by the past mistakes. In the first place, I am telling you this as someone who made the mistake of trusting 8 boys who I assume had my back: Just because you made a mistake befriending a bad person, doesn't mean you had to serve this mistake like a life sentence. You didn't commit a crime, they did!"

That shook Shinichi's heart a little.

"I admit, your plans did result in this shameless girl weaselling back into this office and living off us like a freeloader, let alone making Ranran's life difficult. But who was truly at fault when they refused to believe in anyone, let alone you? Would you feel the need to be forced into scheming all of this in the first place had they believed in you? Also, Mamiko is a sociopath. That girl had no love for anyone but herself!"

Shinichi squeezed his eyes shut and replied, "Even so...."

"You know what is the difference between you and Mouri?" Takuma suddenly cut him off before earning a shake from the blue eye boy, "You acknowledged the failure you had made towards Ranran and turn it into your own stepping stone that makes you the detective you are today. And I will be honest with you: That was brave of you to admit your wrongs to Ranran. But as for Mouri on the other hand? She never did. All she ever did was kick away those stones repeatedly, hurting her foot along the way but she remain relentless despite hurting herself. And that my friend, makes you far worthier without her."

Shinichi sighed and nodded to Takuma. At least he understood.

"I can't 100 percent think that you were completely innocent in all of this, given your bad blood with Ranran back then, let alone, the obnoxious reputation that you think you are smarter than everyone else," Takuma's words didn't sting Shinichi, as he acknowledges that this was one of his downfalls, "Then again, I have been there thinking the same thing when I started out football. And I know what that betrayed feeling is like in your shoes. Though I can't relate to certain parts of this, since I never had an ex-friend or girlfriend do things the way Ran did to my friend, overall, I will do everything in my power to block all routes that will stop her from harassing me again."

With his head drooping, he spoke, "But I did everything-"

"You still haven't, you are missing out on one more route."

"Which is-"

"Your parents." That stopped Shinichi's thoughts in his tracks, "Kudo, did it not occur to you that the reason why Ran is brazenly doing all of this to you despite her parents lecturing her not to, is all because your mother likes her? Since she always wanted a daughter but ended up having you?"

Silence. "She has Ranran-"

"Your mother I recalled Ranran told me had been friends with Ran's mom since their childhood, correct? I also heard that she treated Ran like a daughter a lot as well." Takuma brought this point up, "Your mother ain't a heartless lady. Just because she now has Ranran, doesn't mean she would forfeit her relationship with Ran."

With Shinichi averting his eyes from Takuma, the athlete knew he had to bring it up, no matter how painful it sounded.

"You didn't tell your mother what is truly going on, did you? The things Ran had been doing towards her? If she does, it would no longer give her the right to keep brazenly jumping false accusations onto Ranran anymore." With Shinichi being very reluctant, Takuma pushes through, "I know the reason you didn't bring this up to her is because of the circumstances of how Ranran was born. That is a risk of destroying whatever relationship she had with Ranran. But she is a mother 1st and a friend 2nd, she needs to set discipline no matter what. If a kid made a mistake, she must be punished regardless of how close they are. Or else when Ran grows up to become a spoiled brat, who is at fault for spoiling her? For overly coddling her?"

Takuma wasn't wrong, he didn't like it when he received word that Ran grew up a little spoiled, unlike Ranran. Even when Ran's parents split up, they made up to fill her unhappiness with love, but not in the ridiculous way Sonoko was, which is why whenever Ran was told a 'no', she won't accept it. 'No' is never an option for her, which is why Ranran's sufferings kept persisting.

"I don't know honestly if my mother would ever punish her, I mean....she never punish me even when I broke into Ranran's house."

"She will if you tell her the things she did to you, especially Ranran. The suffering you went through in the first place ain't your typical childish mistake." Takuma insists, "If she doesn't, that makes her a horrible mother that chooses others' happiness instead of her own son's!"

"Then what would you do if you were me, Takuma? If my mother sides with Ran and claims all of this was merely childish?" Shinichi asked.

For a minute, he thought that Takuma wasn't even going to answer, or maybe pretend he didn't hear the apprentice, but finally, he replied, "Then I will prove it to her."

"Prove it to her...how?"

"How do you think Ranran was able to stop both of the adults within your family to force the both of you to get along? When you were both 5 years old?" Takuma replied quietly.

That made him fall silent in response.

"Hey. Listen to me." Takuma meets his eyes. "As a detective, you do judge the decisions the victim made that led them to be killed, right?" Earning a nod, he continued, "Think of it this way: One day if you were discovered to have died and then Mamiko manipulated those girls to lie and claim Ranran was behind it, what would your parents think? Do you want them to blame Ranran? Think about it, Kudo."

Takuma left his seat, leaving Shinichi to deal with his guilt and complicated feelings.

.....

Kudo Ranran struggled to keep herself awake.

But then the noise sounded like a distant crash woke her completely open. And then there was silence, followed by a headache. Oh, how her head throbbed. A misty veil seemed to drift before her eyes, her little body was frozen and when she rested his head back, it cracked against a hard surface. The moist, musty air left a strange taste in her mouth.

Aah...I haven't smelled such a stench since back then when I was in the U.K, especially in church.

Ranran flexed her fingers and they brushed over cold, damp stones, and then she heard someone groan. Then she realized it was herself. Ranran waited until a sudden wave of dizziness had passed before she pressed her elbows against the stone floor and gently eased herself into a sitting position.

Her head was swimming and she remembered everything. They'd all been knocked out in the back seat of the car, while Ranran was the only one who had her head struck hard before the driver left Michio lying on the ground when the screams alerted a few passersby earlier.

Where is my smartphone?

Ranran fumbled in her pocket for her smartphone. It was no longer there. Even the pepper spray Junko had given all of them.

That's right, they were so caught up by the madness, they forgot about the spray. Also the fact Ranran assumed using a baton with a taser would do wonders. She needs a gun, badly.

Judging wherever they are now, it is pointless since the kidnappers must have stolen their phones to call for help once more. What time is it now? Ranran glanced at the luminous dial of her watch. Five hours had passed since they'd left the headquarters. So it is 9 or 10 pm now.

Someone had been very thorough with this kidnapping, Ranran squinted into a shaft of light that filtered through a small, barred window set high in a grim, stone wall. She was in a cellar of some kind, but she had no idea where.

A scuttling noise from the shadows brought her to her feet. She peered into the gloom, wondering where the rat was hiding. Her eyes were able to focus at last, and she noticed the lumpy shape in the corner. She shuffled across, her foot striking something soft. Kneeling, he reached out a hand . Two bodies had been tossed onto a damp, tattered mattress.

Recognizing the two, Ranran rolled Mouri onto her back, and then dragged Emiko away from the wall. They were both alive. She then briskly massaged their hands.

Emiko groaned first, then sneezed while Ran began to make soft, moaning noises. "Michio?" she asked faintly.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but it was me: Your favourite victim you love to harass since day 1."

Ranran's sly smile irked Ran to full awareness mode, leading her to scutter quickly away from the founder as Ran yelled, "What the hell!? What are you doing here!? And where the hell are we!?" She then takes a good look around her surroundings with confusion before demanding answers, "I thought I was with Michio and Emiko stuck in some fake cab, everyone passed out while we were screaming for your help!"

"Well, I was kidnapped in Michio's stead after tasering the driver to unlock the back door, in order to get you both out of the cab. But then Genzo's phone broke down, and with the emergency lines still under repair stages, as well as a poor signal in the area, I tried contacting Shinichi. And again, that didn't work. Long story short, the idiot driver I stunted woke up and grabbed me while calling for help. Michio narrowly escaped through the window I broke from the back seat of the car, tried to save you but the gas got the better of him."

After processing all of this info, Emiko probed, "Why didn't Shinichi answer the phone? Did it have to do with your feud this morning?"

"I assumed so after managing to contact Takuma, but then guess what? It appeared someone held such a grudge over Shinichi, that this person spitefully set his phone to silent mode, and man, Shinichi was pissed." Ranran mocked, much to the girls' surprise, "Can you guess who did it? A hint: It was someone in our HQ."

"Someone in our HQ?" Emiko blinked, "Someone who hates Shinichi..." Her words died in an instant as she turned to stare at a guilty-looking Ran, in pure horror, "Are you serious, Mouri!?"

"I...I wasn't myself when I did that, alright? I mean..." Ran was feeling nervous having been exposed at the worst possible timing, especially this time she realized her plan backfired in the worst way unimaginable, "I really didn't think-"

"Of course, you never once put any of your brain cells to good use, Mouri. Even when Shinichi specifically put down why the rule about silencing one's phone is prohibited except during stakeout must be followed, you are more interested in making him obey you like a puppet." Ranran speaks of this casually, it irked Ran to boiling point.

"You-"

"Mouri Ran, you better keep your mouth shut, otherwise, I am going to slap you right this instant!" Emiko's booming voice brought Ran's anger from being insulted to a standstill, as Emiko blasted at her with nerves growing around her forehead, "What were you thinking!? Did it not occur to you that by doing so, you are literally decreasing our chances of being rescued!?"

"E-Emiko...." she stammered out.

"How could you?! It's one thing to hate someone, but it's another if you were going to endanger everyone else!" Emiko cried at her, venom dripping from every syllable.

Ranran watched as Ran tried to think of an answer and before she could, she decided to remind them where they are, "Girls, we can argue about this later back in HQ. Cause right now, we did to figure out where we are, or whether anybody else is here, so keep all of your voices down." she warned them.

As the two girls stretched and got to their feet, emotions of guilt, sadness and anger could be felt emitting between Emiko and Ran while Ranran was far too busy to care about their girl drama. Slowly exploring the cellar, her experience taught her that escaping through the narrow window wasn't a good option, despite the fact that the three were small in size.

There had to be another way out!

Stumbling around in the gloom, darkness masked the door let alone whether she wandered upon. She needs a torchlight. Switching on the light on her wristwatch, the light poured out a certain volume, making it easier for Ranran to wander around the door with caution.

Ranran owes it to Shinichi, giving her the wristwatch Agasa made to test it out.

From the looks of it, it seems heavy and old, made out of seamed wood. Coated with slime, Ranran wasn't expecting the door to open as she turned the handle. To her surprise, it swung open, as the door's rusted hinges groaned beneath its weight.

"Huh..."Ranran whispered in surprise, as the other two girls gasped from afar "For someone to go as far as to plan a kidnapping that they didn't hesitate to steal our smartphones, ain't this careless for them to not lock the door?"

"Maybe they thought we'd be asleep a lot longer..." Emiko thought of this as she and Ran joined the bold founder, peering out into a shadowy passage.

Ran saw it first, her fingers tapping on Ranran's shoulder before pointing, "Ranran, look," she gasped hoarsely. "Isn't that a...a...corpse?"

They edged toward the burly figure stretched out on the floor. It didn't move.

"Who is he?" Emiko whispered, terror is evidently strangling her voice. "Don't tell me he was recently murdered by someone!?"

"No way! Does this mean...we are next!?" Ran suddenly grew scared.

Initially, Ranran who happen to be hearing their reaction was going to tell them off about being overly paranoid seeing a corpse, only for her to realise that this was the first time they witness a corpse.

Observing the 'corpse', it appears that the clothes were torn. A gun was on the door beside him. Blood trickled from a wound on his forehead. But soon, their eyes were fastened on the red object clutched in his hand. At first glance, it might have been a glass ball. A small glass box had been smashed to pieces on the ground behind him.

Since the two others were too much of a coward to check what it is, Ranran went out to inspect. She knelt down beside the man before directing the light over what this object was.

Even if Ranran were to switch the torch light off, the ruby's glow was fiery and intense on the inside. That's when the trio looked at one another and Ran cried out, "Oh my God! Is that the cursed Rajah Ruby that killed millions of kings!?"

"Oh snap!" Emiko stiffened, as millions of thoughts rushed into her mind like a dam. Is this a sign from God? That they are going to die!? All thanks to this damn ruby!?

Before Ranran could reply, they could hear a shoe scrape on the stone floor behind them. They jumped up and spun around, with the light directed accordingly.

Unbeknownst to them, someone was observing the figure pop out of the shadows before the girls, with a smile playing in his pale blue eyes.