Night had already fallen.
In the depths of winter, darkness came early. Even with the streetlights illuminating the residential neighborhood, large patches remained shrouded in shadow.
Standing beneath one of the lamps, dressed head-to-toe in black, Ritsu slipped on a pair of white dust-free gloves. Casually pulling another pair from his pocket, he tossed them to Shiho beside him.
After putting on the gloves, Shiho glanced at the nameplate by the gate.
[Kudo]
The surname sounded familiar. She was certain she'd heard someone mention it before.
"How are we getting inside?"
As if his professional skills had just been questioned, Ritsu didn't answer. Instead, he demonstrated. With a few deft movements, he effortlessly picked the lock on the front gate before smiling.
"We're going in through the front door."
Even a professional phantom thief probably couldn't open a lock that quickly.
Shiho suddenly found herself wondering whether Augier moonlighted for some other organization. Maybe, whenever he wasn't working for the Organization, he spent his time committing burglaries and other shady crimes.
If Ritsu knew what she was thinking, he'd probably applaud like a delighted seal.
After all, she wasn't wrong. He really did wear multiple hats, far more than a certain blond, dark-skinned Public Security officer.
The two of them strolled into the Kudo residence casually as though they were walking through their own backyard.
After Ritsu once again demonstrated his lock-picking expertise, they put on shoe covers before entering the house.
"Breaking into someone else's home without legitimate cause carries a sentence of up to three years' imprisonment or a fine of up to one hundred thousand yen. Congratulations."
Hearing Augier lecture her on criminal law, Shiho frowned.
"Takes one to know one. Thanks to you, I get to share in that honor."
"My pleasure."
The moment she heard those two words, Shiho decided she didn't want to spend another second in the same room as Augier.
Even someone without heart disease would probably suffer a heart attack from sheer irritation.
Watching her head off toward the right side of the house, Ritsu leisurely followed behind with a flashlight in hand.
After all, he'd been here more than once already.
Not to steal anything, of course.
Just scouting the place, and preparing for today's plan.
Shiho accidentally wandered into what appeared to be the study, a room more akin to a private library.
She immediately regretted not wearing a face mask. The room clearly hadn't been cleaned in a long time, and dust hung thickly in the air.
"Can you finally tell me why you brought me here? There's no one else around now."
Pulling a detective novel from one of the shelves, Ritsu decided not to beat around the bush any longer.
"I brought you here to tell you something. The drug you created failed."
"...Failed?"
"That's right."
He looked around the room. "This is the home of the high school detective, Kudo Shinichi."
"Don't you notice anything strange?"
The neglected yard.
The dust covering every room.
Everything suggested that no one had lived here for quite some time.
According to what Augier was implying, after taking the APTX-4869 she had created, Shinichi had died from the poison?
Her fists slowly tightened.
"So you brought me here... to confirm that Kudo Shinichi is dead?"
Ritsu snapped his fingers.
"Bingo. You got the right answer, but there's no prize."
"Since the Organization never recovered the body, we have to verify things here just to be safe. As the murderer, it's only natural that you should be present."
The murderer.
Wasn't it Gin who had taken the experimental drug without authorization?
She...
She had never wanted to kill anyone.
.
.
.
Forget it.
There was no point making excuses for herself.
Shiho lowered her head.
She was selfish too. In order to protect the tiny light she still clung to, she had greedily continued surviving in the darkness.
Even serving... The Organization itself.
"Let's check upstairs," Ritsu continued.
"Kudo is a detective. Someone as clever as him might've taken some clothes and gone into hiding. Of course... That's assuming he's still alive."
Those words ignited the faintest spark of hope inside Shiho.
If she could find proof that he was still alive, wouldn't that mean her hands had never truly been stained with blood?
Only then...
Only then could she embrace her sister the next time they met.
If her hands were soaked in blood...
She would lose the right to hold Akemi in her arms.
Shiho hurried upstairs.
The moment she entered Shinichi's bedroom, her eyes were drawn to the chess pieces sitting on his desk.
Beneath one of them was a colorful sticky note decorated with a squirrel mascot.
...
"Shinichi, where are you? Remember to contact me.
No, forget that, contact me right away!"
...
She narrowed her eyes.
Lifting the chess piece aside, she peeled back the note. Hidden underneath was a photograph of two people.
The boy, wearing a dark green athletic jacket, stood behind the girl with both hands raised in peace signs.
His exaggerated grin made him look... not particularly bright.
The girl beside him wore a sky-blue jacket. She bent her knees slightly and leaned forward toward the camera, smiling brightly. Almost unconsciously, she leaned toward the boy.
That tiny gesture alone made it obvious he gave her a sense of security.
Or perhaps... she simply liked him.
Shiho froze.
At last, she remembered where she'd heard the name Kudo Shinichi before.
Two months earlier, while meeting Akemi at a café, her sister had mentioned the increasingly famous high school detective.
—
"Shiho, did you know? That genius detective Onizawa Takashi actually took on an apprentice!"
"He's a high school student named Kudo Shinichi. He's even a year younger than you!"
—
A complicated expression crossed Shiho's face as she carefully returned everything exactly as she'd found it.
Turning around, she found Augier standing in the doorway with an unreadable smile.
Her expression immediately darkened. Without hesitation, she shined her flashlight directly into his eyes. The blinding beam forced Ritsu to squeeze his eyes shut.
By the time he opened them again, Shiho had already crouched down to inspect beneath the bed.
Finding nothing but dust, she moved on to search elsewhere.
She truly...
Truly wanted Kudo Shinichi to still be alive.
Ritsu walked over to the one place she hadn't searched yet.
Opening the wardrobe, he deliberately used his height to block Shiho's line of sight, preventing her from noticing that one of the storage boxes inside was completely empty.
"The clothes are all still here."
He closed the wardrobe. "Looks like we can officially conclude that Kudo Shinichi is dead."
Turning back around, he immediately noticed Shiho's expression change.
'Step one... complete.'
Shiho had never imagined that the dose of APTX-4869 Gin had taken had actually killed someone.
But...
What about the rest?
He hadn't taken just one capsule. He'd taken an entire box.
Twenty capsules.
Did that mean...
'Twenty lives?'
How could she ever repay such a debt?
"Your poison turned out to be remarkably effective."
Ritsu smiled coldly.
"Hand over the rest of that batch next time. For the Operatives Division, it's the perfect assassination tool."
"No!"
Shiho abruptly looked up, her voice firm. "I won't allow you to take any more drugs that are still in the experimental stage. Otherwise I'll—"
"You'll what?"
Ritsu tilted his head expectantly.
"I'll stop the research. Right now, I'm the only person capable of producing APTX-4869."
"Without me—"
"Ah!"
Before she could finish, Ritsu's right hand clamped down on her shoulder. His grip tightened relentlessly. The smile disappeared from his face in an instant.
His eyes grew cold.
Terrifyingly cold.
Staring directly at the pale-faced young woman before him, he let out a contemptuous snort.
"Do you really think the Organization can't develop drugs without you? The one thing this world never runs short of... is geniuses."
"And here's another piece of good news. You'll also be participating in the human experiments conducted by Laboratory No. 1."
"Those are the Boss's orders."
Human experiments.
Ignoring the pain shooting through her shoulder, Shiho shouted,
"What exactly do you people want?! Experiments this cruel! We're all human beings!"
"Do you really have to go this far?!"
"The strong prey upon the weak." Ritsu's lips curled into a vicious smile.
"That's simply how the world works. The weak exist to serve the strong."
Leaning close enough for only her to hear, he whispered, "Just like your sister."
"She's finally become... useful too."
Her sister...
Useful?
Shiho grabbed Augier by the tie, her voice trembling with panic.
"What do you mean by that? What are you planning to do to my sister?!"
"She'll be fine."
A malicious smile spread across Ritsu's face.
"Before long... You'll be calling me brother-in-law."
"Brother-in-law?!"
----
Author's Note:
[It's not a romance arc. It's not a romance arc. It's not a romance arc. It's an "act" (or rather, a performance)~ You'll understand when the time comes. (laughs)]
bonus chap every 20 PS
read ahead on my p@treon / Siamus404