It has been almost 2 hours since their escape, by now it is around 11 pm plus Ranran has been flying the plane alongside Emiko. There was obvious turbulence, no doubt about it for the artist who had no experience, but eventually, under Ranran's guidance, Emiko was getting the hang of it roughly. By this time Ran was so tired from everything that had happened, and so was Mr Werner, they both fell asleep at the back.

I hope those two are able to secure us a runway, though...I would probably need to land somewhere if they said no.

Ranran thought about this as she navigates the plane with full attention to the skies, as well as the radar and all. Emiko was still wide awake, though she isn't used to staying up this late at night. It was a fortunate thing that today is a Friday and that this upcoming Saturday there are no classes to attend in school, cause she could use some well-needed sleep. She is a little surprised though, that Ranran is able to keep herself awake, cause most of the kids her age would be exhausted by now.

After 2 hours of silence, Emiko felt a bit bored despite feeling nervous that she is currently monitoring everything that is going on. Truthfully, she later learn that she didn't need to do most of the controlling besides Ranran since this aircraft is designed to even for one pilot alone.

Now with the free time she currently has at the moment, she was thinking about Ranran's odd behaviour earlier. That she instructed Ran to close the facetiming, and interact with the group chat through emojis.

Ranran is someone who does something not without a reason.

Emiko could only assume the one major reason she is doing this was simple: She doesn't trust Ran.

Mouri Ran had proven herself to pose a huge endangerment within the association when she sabotaged Shinichi's smartphone, resulting in their rescue attempts being delayed and it led to their kidnapping as a result. Maybe she wanted to test Ran, how and why? Emiko isn't certain, but perhaps the emoji messages delivered to Shinichi are one of them.

Hoping to receive answers, she whispered to Ranran, "What was with the emojis earlier? You could've just facetime them and talked to them."

"Just a tiny changed in plans," The founder responded in her own style: Short and simple.

And Emiko knew whenever she answers it this way, there is no way she is getting anything more out of her. It always must be her way and never anyone else's way.

In a way, it begins to make Emiko wonder whether Ranran is a dictator in a past life. But then she never forbids anyone within the association from not voicing out their opinions that don't favour her, although she does put a stop to it through ridiculous means. "Emiko, can I ask you something?"

She was not expecting this, "Sure, what?"

"Since you have an intel business back in our school, do you know of anything that took place during Shinichi's first birthday party?"

"Eh?" Suddenly, it dawned on Emiko during the first feud between Ranran and Shinichi back in the school's association, when Ranran brought up Shinichi's inferiority from his first birthday party, she had no idea what truly happen. Otherwise, she wouldn't be asking Emiko right now. To confirm her suspicions, she asks, "Why? I thought when you were arguing with Shinichi, you knew how things turned out."

Of course, Ranran knew how things turned out. Even before Shinichi brought this up, Ranran knew about the birthday party incident thanks to 'The Boy'. However, she felt like there was more to it. "I do know, but not the complete picture. If he was not in the wrong in whatever decision he had made back then, I had to apologize to him, no?"

The silence that fell on Emiko was long and heavy, and Ranran was unsure of how much time passed where neither of them moved nor made a sound. There were so much complicated emotions pent up in Shinichi's eyes. What life had Shinichi dealt with to have such a look? Ranran couldn't help but wonder.

"Why does it matter whether you apologize to him or not...? Also...you could've just asked Ran of all people." it was barely a whisper, but the words rang clearly in Ranran's ears to know it was a lie.

"Ran hates me in the name of jealousy. I have met far too many boys and girls her age doing such things to spite others by using lies to tear people apart. I have difficulty trusting her, but if it was from you, I know you had nothing to gain out of this." her question trailed off into a new silence.

Emiko was speechless at Ranran's words, "You...trust me? D-despite my...intel work?"

"Although we are not close enough to be friends, I noted that the intel you sold to the children of the school were mostly good kids who are desperate to escape bullies. You rarely sell intel to bullies unless they forced you, and the intel you give them often makes them fall into the rabbit hole beyond return."

"You do know...I ain't a good person, right?" Emiko reminded her, "I could just easily sell off whatever took place within the association to your enemy."

"It's better than being a hypocrite like Ran, always hiding things behind their own friend's back. At least I know you are not pretending to be someone you are not."

For a moment, Emiko didn't know what to make of this. There are some mixed feelings of warmth and guilt blooming within her. She never knew Ranran think of her that way, so far, the bad clients called her 'evil' for selling their secrets to others when she first started out. Emiko never cared about those harsh words, as it was a means of survival after her parents divorced to protect herself from bullies.

Feeling like she owed Ranran certain things, the detective girl perked up to Emiko's words, "There was a man at his birthday party years ago, he was the reason that led Shinichi to pursue the detective path he is leading today."

"A man? Who is he to Shinichi?"Ranran found herself asking in confusion.

"The black sheep of the Kudo family,"

"Eh?"

"It's a bit odd that every time whenever I tried to get kids to talk about that man's existence, they try to brush it off as if he never existed," Emiko shook her head, "But you had the right to know."

"....that man?"

Emiko knows she shouldn't be telling Ranran about Shinichi's dark past, especially if it doesn't come from the horse's mouth, Shinichi is bound to kill Emiko. Also, it still ain't clear to Emiko where Ranran stands in the Kudo family. An adoptee? An illegitimate? A child-bride? Or is something sinister that she isn't aware of yet?

But then...given that Ranran had to deal with a lot since moving here, especially today from that Mouri Ran, Emiko felt like Ranran deserve to know. "Ranran...how much do you know about the marriage of your grandparents here?"

"Here?" Ranran frowned, still flying the plane with her eyes focused on the sky, "It was an arranged marriage, they then gradually fell for the other, then they ended up...getting us to where we are now."

A bit evasive about the subject of the Kudo family, Ranran?

Emiko decided to try to cut straight to the chase, "Do you recall that Shinichi's parents had a falling out between them and the grandparents? Especially when his mother wanted to adopt a child when she realized she couldn't have another child anymore, but both of your grandmother gave her the ultimatum: Divorce or obey the rules. Are you not curious why?"

Judging Ranran's expression, although her attention was towards the sky, she could tell Ranran was interested to know why.

"The Kudo family used to suffer the same predicament after having their own child. There were those superstitious beliefs in the earlier days: Adopt a kid, and you will be able to bear another one despite suffering complications of not being able to bear another. Decades ago, the matriarch took in a little girl as their daughter."

Shocked, Ranran almost turned her head to the artist had she not remembered that she was still controlling the plane, "We had an aunt?!" The red lip girl gasps, "There were no records or photos that I come across of her."

"In the first place, she was a foster child. Anyway, although I didn't really have much to go on...she had a child at the age of 14." Observing Ranran's eyes widening at this revelation, Emiko continued, "There were rumours that she had a relationship with a very bad person, when she and that guy died in a very violent car accident, the son was later taken in by the Kudo family. Long story short...he grew into the man I am about to tell you."

"So this man..."Ranran struggled to process all of this, "Is he supposed to be the reason why Shinichi aspired to become a detective? Why? Is he a detective who died on duty? I thought...his father's mystery novels were the main motivation behind it?"

"Oh, you ain't wrong. But that man's existence only enforced this dream further...just not in the way you presumed." With much deliberation and hesitation, Emiko broke down the news to her, "Quite the opposite."

With colour slowly slipping out of Ranran, the first thing she ask was, "What did he do to Shinichi?"

"You recall Lolicon situation with Sonoko?"

Silence. For a moment, Ranran didn't know how to put it into words. "Did he-"

"Oh no, it was fortunate Shinichi was intelligent to know he was in fact a very sick man, so he always lock the doors and distanced himself from him. You can say...this man was not suitable for kids like us. The problem was at that time, I think maybe both of your grandmother couldn't let go of their love for that dead daughter at that time...she disregard everything Shinichi spoke about him. Even his own parents...that man was so well-liked among everyone, it was difficult to prove he was capable of it."

Ranran froze, this was not what she was expecting. Not even the projector revealed this dark past of Shinichi.

"Then...the birthday party situation-"

"When he acted childish and clingy to kick out those children, it wasn't merely to cut ties with them permanently. The reason that man was caught was also..." Feeling a little sickened about this, she knew she had to whisper this to Ranran, "I do not know whether this was truly the case, but I heard rumours Shinichi may have used one of the children he hated as bait for that man during the birthday party."

If Ranran's hands hadn't remained on the controller, she swore she could've used it to cover her mouth over this mindblowing information.

From what Ranran recalled, when her mentor dug into this party and addressed his concerns about Shinichi's character, the only thing he mentioned was the name-calling part and that was about it. Ranran had always long suspected that when Shinichi acted out at his 1st birthday party, there was something going on besides kicking those opportunistic children out of the party. Now things are adding up.

To get rid of this sick man, yet the adults within the family were in disbelief, he had to go big.

Similar to the parkour incident, he had to expose this man before them red-handed. One of the methods to expose him is to act out since Shinichi once revealed he watched a documentary, that if a kid acts in a way that is so hateful, it usually means something or someone is at fault that triggers them to act that way, as a form of defence mechanism.

Of course, doing this won't be enough for Shinichi.

If there is one thing about the apprentice, is that if he is pushed to a corner, you can bet he will push the person back into the sea and make sure they drown!

Judging this situation, it must not have been easy for him. To sacrifice a kid his age to be the victim of that disgusting man, just to ensure his plan to expose this man's vile behaviour is hidden from everyone. If what Emiko said is true, that means Shinichi is capable of being ruthless. Suddenly Ranran's accusations towards Shinichi when he broke into her house back then that he was chasing his Tantei dream in the name of escapism fell apart.

No wonder he took leave for a week from school after I told him off.

Judging by his character, Ranran wonders if Ran and Sonoko were aware of this.

If they were, it explains why they were so against him chasing after his dream, let alone, explained why Sonoko didn't hesitate to use Ranran's name despite knowing she was innocent. Considering this incident was very vile, the detective girl is convinced he did not tell Ran or Sonoko any of this.

If it were Ranran put in Shinichi's position, easy decision. She had a long list of names who she thinks is well-deserving as a sacrificial lamb. Call her a psychopath at that thought, but she had personally witnessed too many evil kids who deserve such a thing to befall them.

Ranran then think back to the several cases she and him solved, she always found it odd that whenever there were decisions that involve sacrificing lives to lure the culprit, he had no problems making a quick decision asap without hesitating. Initially, she had assumed he watched too many dark animes to the point sacrificing lives was easier for him, but now Emiko's intel shed tons of light now.

In some ways, she doesn't know whether to feel bad for that kid who was sacrificed in Shinichi's stead, or those children who were present at the party.

But she does feel bad for Shinichi, genuinely.

Plus the adoption ban...Ranran had long suspected something severe must have happen to have their grandmother imposed this, but never could she had suspected that it was due to such...incident.

While Emiko was quietly watching Ranran's conflicting look, it was pretty obvious that the founder was having mixed emotions about this. Finally,  her voice was falling to a barely audible whisper, "I need to apologize to him."

Emiko has no idea about their 3 staged feud, so mistaking Ranran's guilt for remorse, she said, "You know...you are not completely at fault."

"Eh?" Again, Ranran reminded herself not to turn her head to anyone.

"My personal opinion about that feud you both had...no one is actually at fault. If anything...I think you both need to talk things out. The fault in this is that you both expected different things from the other a little too much."

"Really?" Ranran raises her eyebrows, a little sceptical at her words.

"I felt like...you expected a little bit too much for him to be constantly up to par at your level despite knowing of his situation with Ran and Sonoko making things difficult for him. While he expected you to give him heavier responsibilities since he felt confident he can do it without letting his personal issues be in the way."  Emiko murmurs and decides to elaborate more about it, "In a way, you made things out of reach for Shinichi because you doubt him, which in return made him doubt you, Ranran. Someone has to let their guard down a little, or else this doubting game will continue on."

In a moment of clarity, Ranran decides, "I guess you have a point."

She didn't have the heart to tell Emiko that the feud was a sham to flush Mamiko's schemes out, but it was nice knowing Emiko has a heart.

Responding with a relaxed soft smile, she said, "Thanks, Emiko."

And if Ranran could see Emiko's expression, she was honestly startled seeing Ranran smile for the first time. Whenever she meets her, it was either a sly devious smile or a vindictive sort. Even whenever Emiko gain intel about her, there were never reports of her genuinely smiling like that.

It makes Emiko wonder...when, what and why did she stop smiling like that?

........

Conflicting feelings were the most unexpected thing Shinichi felt himself dealing with in the middle of the night. In a way, it brought nothing but hateful memories of Mamiko, Ran and Sonoko for ruining his stakeout.

The two boys had arrived outside Atsuko Gallery while Michio sat beneath the bus stop, and Shinichi choose a different corner to hide this time. Rather than hiding in the alleyway, he hid behind the bus stop, since certain parts were blurred, and since he is a small-sized boy, hiding was no issue.

The street was almost deserted and the building was shrouded in darkness. There was no sign of anyone, not even the little serpent, or an adult prowling around the bus stop. It is 11 pm plus, and they were earlier than intended, but Shinichi insist on heading there to see if they could find anything suspicious.

With the tense silence, there was no movement in sight.

And it was evident that it grew pretty boring for Majima Michio, yet, he knew he had no right to complain. After all, it was his blindsight towards Adeline that led them to be here in the first place. But from Michio's perspective, it seems as though Shinichi is taking this situation harder than it already is.

Truthfully, Michio sympathized with Shinichi when he argued with Mouri Ran earlier. In a way, their feud mirrored his position in life with Junko, constantly being bossy and controlling over him.

When he first found out that Ranran and Shinichi needed a venue to run their detective activities, although he made a deal that he would become a member of the association out of noble intentions to protect his mother, there were other factors that played in this decision.

One of the factors includes distancing himself from Fuyuko Junko.

Like Shinichi, he was eager to severe it all. After hearing rumours about Ranran who had a knack for making kids leave her alone, he knew becoming a member would make things very difficult for Junko to ever approach him. Junko is someone who will never take no for an answer, so it was in a way refreshing for Michio to see his kindergarten friend being called out for the actions she always justifies as 'For his own good', even more so when Ranran purposefully made Junko relived the same tormenting experiences Michio had to go through.

But aside from being subjected to such torment, he never could've guessed that Shinichi's situation was far way past his, when the video of Sonoko self-admitting to misusing Ranran's name to force Shinichi to quit pursuing his dream surfaced. Even more so when Sonoko attempted to get Ranran killed by calling her 'The Fox'.

It was by far the cruellest thing a child is capable of in his opinion. Sure, Junko uses his father's death all the time to guilt trip him into opening up, and that is crueller than Shinichi's situation. But so far, Junko never once put a hit on an innocent person, the way Sonoko and Ran did to the founder. Even though Junko got involved in multiple physical scuffles, she usually take those girls to the infirmary later on.

Seriously, Michio couldn't help but think how does someone like Kudo Shinichi be able to live like this.

He seriously admired him, when Takuma told him about Shinichi announcing to switch seats away from Ran to be with the founder, his impression of Shinichi was that he is courageous. Michio had been dying to do the same in class when Junko was getting out of control, but as much as their classmates were more than willing to do so, they know Junko is off limits due to her physical prowess. Junko doesn't bully weaker children, but she won't stand there and sit quietly if Michio tried to leave.

Even as Shinichi began his activities in Tantei association while Ran continued to pester him to leave, he never waver. But now, Michio seemed to notice the younger boy is beginning to crack under pressure after all of these events unravelled the ugly nature of Ran and Sonoko.

How could girls like them even exist? I thought they were his friends!

He wanted to console the apprentice, he genuinely does. But despite having shared similar experiences, he didn't know what to say to make it all better. To him, it feels like no matter how much he sacrificed himself for his Tantei dream, his past decisions in his school will come back to bite him.

The truth behind all of this was ugly, too harsh. "Kudo, are you still in the back?"

No response, but by turning to the back, Michio can still see Shinichi's silhouette on the back of the bus stop, indicating Shinichi is in a trance. He hasn't completely left his headspace since the kidnapping, even more so when he and Ranran had their first feud.

Truly...Shinichi felt...I am not a qualified detective.

Such a pathetic little boy like does not deserve to be called the interim founder of a Tantei agency like Ranran would. Now Shinichi begins to start worrying about certain things, mainly whether he should do as Takuma says about letting his mother know of the hell Ran and Sonoko had caused.

Shinichi isn't a snitch, he doesn't like it when his parents get involved in his personal matters since he is a very independent boy. But, Takuma ain't wrong, Ran's bravado was all through his mother's coddling. As much as he never once saw his mother snap out at Ran, his worst fear was Yukiko will not tell Ran off.

"Kudo Shinichi? Kudo Shinichi!"

"What?" His thoughts were broken by Michio's voice.

"Are you alright?"

Michio is unable to see Shinichi's expression, but he could tell the tone was cynical when he replied, "No, I am not alright. Ranran is kidnapped because of Mouri. If Ranran dies, the last memory I had left her would be that I made myself sound ungrateful when she has taken me in as an apprentice. And I can't bear the thought that I may never be able to make up for my past mistakes."

That was a half lie, although Shinichi knew Ranran was very much in on this ruse, it wasn't a complete lie that he was burdening her with Mouri being around the association. "Kudo."

"What?"

"Have I ever told you...how I ended up having Junko in my life?"

"....huh?"Shinichi weariedly respond, wondering where he was heading with this.

"My mother used to be friends with her mom back in high school, that was until her mother was kicked out of the neighbourhood where you and Ranran are currently living in."

"Eh?" That was surprisingly coming from Michio's mouth.

So the rumours about Junko's mother having been born from a wealthy family were true?!

The neighbourhood both Ranran and Shinichi lived in consisted mostly of wealthy residents, though it ain't as ridiculous filthy rich as the Suzuki family. It was well-known for the western designed houses. The thought that Junko's mother who is well-known in the community for living in a slum-like neighbourhood is...shocking to Shinichi.

He knew about her being hated whenever her mother's name is brought up among the adults, even his parents detest her and often warn him not to go over to her house, reminding him not to take Ranran there. That's right, for some reason, their grandparents hate her, so much so that they even forbade anyone from uttering her name, especially in front of Ranran and her parents.

According to the adults in the family, she caused a scandalous incident that is so vile, she had to be kicked out for the safety of the younger teens, especially the children. She was a teenager back then, but they didn't care. Whatever it was she did, Shinichi knew she was later sent to prison and served her time till she was in his dad's own words 'unfairly released', since she 'wronged so many victims'.

The 'deed' she did was so vicious, that even her daughter Junko was subjected to being looked down on by anyone who come across her growing up.

"When I...started out kindergarten, I had difficulty making friends," Michio swung his legs silently on the seat, "Initially I didn't, and I was looking forward to being paired up with the other friends I ended up with. But then the teacher made me end up with Junko, justifying that this was to break our stereotypical views about her."

"Stereotype?" Shinichi became confused at that thought, "What do you mean?"

"The earlier rumours about her were...she bites anyone she meets."

Recalling the biting incident back in martial arts class from Mouri during their first major case, Shinichi reminded Michio, "That ain't stereotype, that is the truth. She has bitten a girl the other day in our school, did you forget?"

"I didn't," Michio didn't disagree with Shinichi, before slumping, "Initially...kids distanced myself from me. Not because they hated me, cause they were fearful for their lives now that Junko seemingly had their teacher under her influence to snatch me away from them. In a way...they had every right to since was considered sensei's pet back then."

With a bitter smile, he looks up to the stars of the night. "I was very miserable, even more so when I learn the connection between my mother and hers. I wanted out and have nothing to do with her. Even my mother thinks I was easily swayed by the kids there for thinking Junko was a bad child. She liked her."

Curious, Shinichi found himself asking, "Did she...bully you behind the scenes? Or...bite someone but brush it off as if she had no idea? As in...being pretentious?"

"No, she has never bitten a single person when I was with her. Nor did there complaints made, nor that she bully me as you assumed. And the word 'pretentious' isn't one of those things I would describe her to be." He chuckled, "Quite the opposite. Within a year, when we turn 5 and ended up in a smarter class where the kids there were prideful and bullying was common, only then we had to rely on each other and became friends since then."

Gasping, Michio continued, "She defended me multiple times, especially from those girls who had a crush on me but did not know their boundaries by pulling my hand. And the old me back then...didn't appreciate being dragged around. And I relied on her heavily, I will admit that. Until..."

Feeling sympathetic yet at the same time amazed, Shinichi finished, "It got out of control as it is now?"

Earning a reluctant nod, he continued, "Truthfully later on as we grew older, I learn to have a voice of my own throughout the ordeal. And if can go back in time, I would not rely on Junko if I had known this is where it got to us now."

Shinichi's eyebrows raised in response, "Why are you telling me this story?"

"You are smarter than me in many ways, Kudo. And if I had such intelligence, I would do everything in my power to leave. And you are also mentally strong," Michio admitted to him, "Unlike me who felt like I will forever be owing to Junko, you owed Ran nothing. The person you owe the most from my understanding is the one who guided you as a detective, not the one who keeps interfering with your happiness."

Shinichi's pupils dilated in response.

.....

Getting to Genzo was difficult, in a way, his phone was dead or alive at times.

So after several calls made, Ranran received an audio clip that neither Takuma nor Junko were able to succeed in securing an airport runway for them. It didn't help that the name 'Tantei Association' granted them any favours, despite having been reported on the news.

The perception of Tantei Association for adults had never been good, in a way, it was similar to the iconic line used in Scooby-Doo over and over, 'Those meddling kids' were the perfect way to describe them, despite the huge distrust over law enforcement due to the police corruption scandal that took place last year.

In a way, the public thinks that they are 'wanabe detectives' who interfere with the work that adults should be put in charge. There are good officers regardless of that, and they assumed they should continue going to school and not meddle here and there.

So it wasn't a surprise that some air traffic controller at some airport was screaming at Ranran, "Permission to land? Are you crazy? You aren't even a proper pilot! Negative. I say again, negative over. And why are you speaking as if you are a child?!"

A widespread glow of light had appeared on the far horizon as the plane cruised steadily toward it. With one bad news after all, Ranran had decided to get Takuma and Junko to do research on a specific airport she is interested in, shortly after Emiko managed to wake Ran up to recheck whether there was any airport nearby.

Having earlier reached across and with the radio switched on, geared in a headset, Ranran argued, "It's a police emergency. And you are not wrong, I am a kid who was recently kidnapped by The Snake along with a German inspector and two other girls. To escape unharm, I hijacked his plane to escape. Romeo Alfa Foxtrot Echo, over."

Ran, Emiko and Werner were puzzled by Ranran's interaction with the controller.

"How can a kid just simply hijack a plane out of the blue? This ain't some movie, it's real life!" The controller said in scepticism, "Plus, I read about Tantei Association on the news. Even if what you have all been doing were true, how is it possible for you to fly a plane? Are you not 6 years old?!"

"It's true! Ranran wasn't lying when we said we are kidnapped!" Mouri was agitated by how quickly the adult in the headset was quick to dismiss things, all because they are kids in their eyes.

"And she ain't wrong, she is literally flying a plane." Even the inspector was dismissed by the doubtful receiver.

"Also, I am sitting next to her right now!" Emiko blasted impatiently.

"Yeah...listen, if you guys are prank calling-"

Rolling her eyes, Ranran thanked her lucky stars that Junko and Takuma did proper research on the staff members of this damn airport before announcing, "I tell you what, should you choose not to do so if the four of us perish while on the flight, let Sergeant Genzo from the Japan Metropolitan police department be notified that you decided to dismiss the cries of four kidnapped victims who narrowly escaped from The Snake, all because you are assuming we had all the time in the world to prank call you."

"E-excuse me?!" He sputtered.

"Or even better, continue to keep this job for the next 12 donkey years ahead and kiss your promotion goodbye under 4 of our deaths. Don't forget, I have connections around the field of work you are working in. So which will it be, Mr Orimoto Touma? Sierra Oscar Oscar Acknowledge, over."

"The hell!?" The control responded in horror, "How the hell did you know my real name!? Let alone, my job promotion!?"

"Ranran, you shouldn't be blackmailing him!" Ran told her off, but she merely shrug in response.

"Ok? More questions huh?" Ranran mocked as she is about to denounce him, "So long, Mr Orimoto-"

"Alright alright!" Snapped the controller in retaliation, "I'll be delighted to call the police! Stand-by. Jesus! Whose kid are you, seriously? Roger!"

Emiko then leaned across to Ranran. "Why did he call say, Roger?" She wanted to know.

Ranran laughed. "It's radio jargon--a special phrase that pilots and airport controllers use. It means your message has been received and understood. It saves time just to say 'roger'. Similar to the reason why some of us use emojis in the first place."

"Well, if you want to save time, why don't you just say your name, or spell it out normally instead of, saying all those other silly words?" It was Ran's turn to ask.

"Because so many letters sound the same," Ranran told her "Like B, D, and T. But if I use the International Phonetic Alphabet, everyone knows what Bravo, Delta and Tango stand for anywhere in the world. In Japan, no different."

Minutes later the radio crackled into life again. This time, the controller sounded friendlier: "Romeo Alfa Foxtrot Echo, the police are on their way. Sergeant Genzo asked if everyone is safe. Over. Jesus Christ, he had a huge rude shock when he assumed I was joking about you operating a plane."

Ranran grinned, "Affirmative. Please notify him that in addition to all of this, we've obtained the Rajah ruby--Romeo Uniform Bravo Yankee, Over!"

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

Meanwhile, Takuma who remained at his seat had been fiddling with his cap back in the main HQ, sighing with relief after Ran texted them that everything has gotten smoothly. It was 11:45pm right now.

Regardless of the good news, however, Takuma felt restless.

He has no doubt of Ranran's abilities, but then...his worries grew about Shinichi and Michio. Now that the rest of the girls are going to be alright, what is going to happen to the other two boys at Atsuko gallery?

Junko who sat opposite him felt that this habit of his is annoying. It's bad enough that they are forced to sit out of this stakeout sting, even more so now that Michio is putting his life on the line to lure that serpent out, as well as everything else in between.

This is why Fuyuko hated that she had no control over this matter. Joining the association reminded her of the days with Michio when they were both 5 years old, the class back in kindergarten where those idiots had no moral boundaries going after the two, feeling helpless.

She glared at him, her glasses perched on the end of her nose. Boys could be so childish at times! "If you have something to say to me, then just say it!"Junko broke the silence.

"About what was mentioned earlier regarding finding a way that didn't require us to use a gun to tackle Adeline, I figured out a way."

"Wait, really? Well, why didn't you say so!?"Junko became surprised as she becomes interested in Takuma's words.

"It.... sounds dangerous. Also...I don't have the resource." He cast his eyes down the table in disappointment.

"Just say it."Junko prompted him to speak, frowning with impatience. "If you don't say it, how would you know it doesn't work till you try?"

"We can actually substitute them with Paintball guns."

"Hah!?"She didn't see where he was heading with this. "Why paintball guns? Also..." The girl frowned, "It can't kill people."

"Although it can't, if you use it the right way, you can." In all seriousness, Takuma began to share this story, "When I was with Ranran, Reina has this incident where this foreign money-hungry cousin of hers decided to borrow money from her. Since she didn't know he was a gambler when it came to Pokemon cards, she lend them to him. It was around 3 days before he was due to return it to her, as he had to go back to his home country."

"How much did she lend him?"

"500 yen, but it's still a good portion of money for Reina. Every time she demanded he return, he promised to return it to her another day, but he was an irresponsible twat as Ranran would call him."

"Just get to the story."

"Anyway, Ranran being Ranran got word of it, so she-

"Why am I not surprised?"Junko cuts him before figuring out where this story was heading, "Let me guess, she tortured him with a paintball gun to force him to return the money?"

"Worst, she made him paralyzed for 6 months."

"SHE DID WHAT!?" Junko was in disbelief. Although paintball guns can't literally kill a person, to call paralysis is still...."How did that happen!?"

"Well, she shot him in the back of the neck when Reina confronted his gambling one day at Beikai mall. We were celebrating Reina's birthday at a paintball course, till he was caught playing Pokemon cards openly with the others at a card-playing section outside the venue when Reina was heading to the washroom. When Rei-chan confronted him, the altercation turned ugly pretty quickly. I was going to rush over to tackle him, but then Ranran who was holding the gun aimed for his neck and shot him, triggering a stroke a few days later."

"What the hell?!" Junko's eyes went wide, still staring at the athlete. "No way! Wait, is that boy's parents aware that Ranran did this to them?"

"Knowing is one thing, attempting to charge Ranran legally is another," He spoke casually as if it was no big deal.

Junko was stone-faced for all of a millisecond, "Oh no, don't tell me she-"

"Anyway, long story short, she was spared. Which is why I had this idea in mind," he decided.

Junko's eyes widened."And where are we going to obtain such guns?"

"That is the thing, I have no idea." He gave a tight smile, strumming the table, "We can actually buy this online, but it's late at night now, and I have no one in particular who would willingly supply me those guns, let alone paintballs right now this instant."

Disappointed, Junko was going to say Takuma had just given her false hopes till her eyes fly open. "Wait! I know where to obtain those guns!"

"Really!?" Hope returned to his eyes, "Where?"

"At my place," Confused why Junko would own such a weapon, she explained, "My neighbour's son used to steal my dad's imported chocolates from me shamelessly. It never helped that his mother defended him, claiming he was too young to understand between right and wrong. She even had the audacity to say even if I bring it to the cops, the charges will never stick since her son is too young to go to jail. While all of this was going on, he retaliated when I prevented him from stealing chocolates by using those paintball guns, since his dad owns such business. Long story short..."

"...you confiscated the gun!?" Takuma exclaimed.

"He was stupid to leave two of those guns lying openly in his yard, and his fences were not that high, so it was easier to climb over to take it. I waited till he made an attempt to steal the chocolates again, only then did I strike and shot him multiple times. It landed with the arrival of police officers, and an arrest made on his mother under charges of burglary, but that will be a story of another time..."

"EH!!!? BURGLARY!?" Takuma was triggered, he was not anticipating this, "The hell!?"

"Anyway, back to the beginning," Junko clears her throat to get them back to the starting point, "Let me rush over to my place and back here, then we will put the guns to good use onto that vixen!"

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go then!" Takuma broke into a grin as he agreed, reaching for his bag. "Once we have it, she is going to suffer the hell we plan for her!"

Becoming enthusiastic, the two rush out of the HQ and into the night.