Tōryanse, tōryanse

Koko wa doko no hosomichi ja?

Tenjin-sama no hosomichi ja

Chitto tōshite kudashanse...

It was a windy noon in a fine autumn day. Shuichi curled his head lazily on the table, his hands hugging it. Through the window, his gaze set emptily at the children playing beneath the golden sky of the falling leaves. A forlorn air carved onto his face. Why do I have to be stuck here when others are having fun? Why do I have to be alone? Why do everyone leave me behind? He squealed, inside.

Shuichi sighed. He turned his head up, nodded right and left. Of course, what was he expecting? There was nothing but empty chairs and silent walls, and he knew that fact very well. Now his stare moved onto the clock. It was showing 3.25 p.m, an hour five minutes away from Shuichi's anticipation. The window was calling him again, but Shuichi knows it was going to make him even more upset. He however was unable to resist the call; he gave it a short look before giving up. He then buried his face, prompted to drift his sight away from the covetous scenery. Now even pitch black is much better to face! He thought. In his head playing the scene from out of the window; the golden leaves falling out, the amber sky, the breezy wind, the little games Shuichi's friends are playing...

It got Shuichi thinking, how they didn't even look up to sneak a glance at how Shuichi was doing. They sure knew how Shuichi would have always preferred the window seat; they sure knew they'd spot him right away just by looking up. But why wouldn't they? Was tōryanse that much fun to spare their thought onto their less fortunate friend trapped up here? Or, was the time spent without him much more fun than the time spent with him?

And that was the exact questions Shuichi had been replaying over and over again in his head. Not only his friends, Otou-san and Okaa-san... how long had it been since they asked Shuichi how he was doing at school? How long had it been since Otou-san spare a little hour or so just to play football with him, like how he used to? How long had it been since Kaa-san cooked his favorite shrimp curry instead of telling Shuu to just grab a ramen or something in the way home? And the worst part was, Shuichi could never even complain; because Shuu knew it was probably an increased workload, and his new baby sister that needed more caring than he. But sometimes, just this once, wouldn't it be fair for Shuichi to feel invisible, these time around?

"Kudo-kun..."

Tōryanse, tōryanse

Koko wa doko no hosomichi ja?

Tenjin-sama no hosomichi ja

Chitto tōshite kudashanse...

"Kudo-kun!"

Shuichi could listen all the noises amongst the children outside the window; names shouted, laughters shrieked. Still, no one was looking up. Even the last golden leaf in a silent branch closest to him decided to fall, leaving him...

"Kudo-kun?!"

It was another pitch black, and it was calling his name, asking him to dwell inside it. Shuichi didn't know where the whisper was from, but he suddenly had an idea that maybe—just maybe—he could play with his friends inside it. Maybe—just maybe—Otou-san was waiting there with a ball ready to be kicked, and Kaa-san was holding a bowl of shrimp curry he liked for him. Maybe—just maybe—the darkness was just a keyhole to a happiness he had longed for...

"KUDO-KUN, WAKE UP!"

Shuichi jumped in shock.

"Sugiura-sensei..."

"Kudo-kun, it's already fifteen minutes past 5 p.m. You must have fallen asleep..."

Shuichi looked at the clock. It showed exactly a quarter an hour past his probation time. He looked out of the window, and there were no more children playing around in the school field. All that left was a mound of golden leaves, reflecting the shine of the vermilion sun.

"Go home already, Kudo-kun. And don't forget your homework next time. I'm sure Kobayashi-sensei just wanted you to be more attentive to your tasks in the future,"

Meh. Kobayashi-sensei—that angry grandma—just didn't like how I was still getting A's even though my homeworks weren't as neat as the girls'. Shuichi defended himself in his mind.

"I understand. Arigatou, Sugiura-sensei. See you tomorrow!"

Shuichi packed up his books and put on his bag. Sugiura-sensei was opening the class door when he remembered something and turned back his head to Shuichi.

"Ano, Kudo-kun. A man and a woman are waiting for you downstairs."

Shuichi couldn't believe his ears. Really? Otou-san and Okaa-san came to pick me up? His eyes gleaming with happiness.

But wait, Sugiura-sensei should have just mentioned it was my parents, if they were my parents.

"I have never seen them before though. I mean, I have met Ran-san couples of time, and although I've never met Kudo-keibu face to face, I've seen him from the TV. Anyway, maybe we should both check first, just in case,"

And so, Shuichi and Sugiura-sensei walked down the stairs together. It was quiet in Teitan Elementary. Shuichi could only hear, in his head, what his Otou-san and Okaa-san were talking about today before he set up to school today. It was about children' kidnapping rates, how it had been raising lately, to be precise.

"So, Shuu had better be raising his awareness of the surroundings... won't you, Shuu?"

Of course, Otou-san said that before he rushed to the Metro Police Headquarters where he works before Shuichi could even say he would, and Okaa-san gave her last little but charming smile to Shuichi just before his baby sister's cry broke again and she flew away in a blink of an eye. But that wasn't what Shuichi was concerned about...

"Now," Shuichi and Sugiura-sensei arrived at the gate. "There, the couple that has been waiting for you,"

From a distance, Shuichi could see a man in a dark suit, wearing a cap that wasn't too matching with his outfit. The woman beside him looking beautiful although Shuichi could only see the back of her head. Her long light-colored hair flowing, autumn's amber sky shimmering upon it.

"So..." Shuichi looked up to his Sensei, catching a doubtful glance in his face. "Does Kudo-kun recognize th..."

"Kudo Shuichi-kun!" Before Sugiura-sensei finished what he said, the woman had already pronounced Shuichi's name with so much joy; just as if she just met someone whom she held dear since forever. Not even the fact that she was wearing a pair of shades could hide that excitement.

She walked towards Shuichi, kneeled before him to get a better look at the boy's face. The man before her followed. Shuichi could see now that he was using a crutch to walk; his right leg seemed to be compromised. Shuichi wondered what happened to him, for he was looking strong with a well build and brawny structure.

"I am so sorry for the trouble, Sensei. Thank you for letting Shuu go home," Said the man with a kind look. Shuichi glanced at him suspiciously. Not everyone called him that. Well not strangers.

"No problem, his probation ended already anyway. Please take Kudo-kun home safely, will you?"

"Don't worry, we will," The man was so full of confidence it shone through his eyes. How his eyes was as sharp as a blade contradicted with his generous and welcoming smile.

"So, shall we go home then, cool boy?"

Shuichi was analyzing the man so intensely that he forgot the woman he was captivated with even just from the strands of her hair was right in front of him. With those happy smiles, what could possibly go wrong? They must be Otou-san's other friends just like that time... He recalled the moment he first met Heiji and Kazuha, how he mistook them as kidnappers and got ridiculed throughout the New Year celebration break 3 years ago.

After all, I really have nothing to do. Even if they really were kidnappers... wouldn't this be an interesting adventure?

Shuichi realized how loneliness and suspicion equal adventure. The woman stood up, grabbing Shuichi's hand and guide him out of the school. The man bowed good bye to Sugiura-sensei and proceeded to follow them through. It was a scarlet red Mercedes Benz S-class that served as the end point of the walk. The man stepped forward and opened the passenger seat.

"Come on in, don't be shy," he said.

Shuichi did as instructed while remaining cautious. Why the passenger seat? Why wasn't I seated at the back? The man closed the door, put off his crutch to the back seat of the car and got in to the driving seat. Shuichi got to see that it was modified so that the man could drive the car.

The woman was the last to enter the car and without delay, the engine started. The car is moving.

"How long has it been since our last visit to Beika?" The woman put her left arm on the driving seat's shoulder piece, giving off a hint of intimacy while leaning to the man's shoulder.

"Hmm, to think again, it was quite some years ago. Almost 8, if I recall well." The man answers reservedly.

"So, 8 years since we last met the great detective. And yet look where we are, who we are with..." She turned her glare at Shuichi.

"...Kudo Shinichi miniature," She said, coldly.

"Now, now, we heard that Kudo was busy all the time he couldn't spare his time with his boy," Said the man, now grinning wider than he was. The woman giggles a little—and not the chatty kind of giggle.

"What about we show him a game? The game his dad used to play on us that got us, well, you know..."

Shuichi felt something wasn't quite right. He felt as if an alarm in his mind has just pounded.

"...Doomed? No way, what if we got caught by the renowned detective dad of his? What if his mother decided to show us indeed those killer kicks?" The man said playfully. Shuichi's brain boiling with angst. Who are these people? What are they gonna do? How can I manage dealing with them?

"Well, well, say..." The woman, now with even the evilest grin Shuichi has ever witnessed, teased.

"Do you see them—his parents? Where are they now? Do they have the slightest will to save their kid?"

"Will? Do they even have the capability even if they do? They should be trying to save themselves at the moment,"

Shuichi reached the peak of his bewilderness. Otou-san! Okaa-san! Whatever did they do to you? He looked out to the door, to the window; they were locked, the windows shut by a shade. The seatbelt now stuck; preventing Shuichi to move his limbs. He screams in panic; but no one seemed to pass by. He looked at the two sinisters, aiming to look out for their weak point. But what exactly?

Shuichi can't forgive himself for acting so recklessly. The pictures of his Otou-san, Kaa-san, his baby sister, his friends, Inspector Takagi...

Inspector Takagi! Shuichi realized that he gave him a press pin alarm for his 6th birthday. Just one press and they would be connected right away. Shuichi fiddled trying to reach it out to his watch.

"Are you trying to grab this? I am sorry but I have to borrow it until the game is over. Now, Shuu-kun, let me explain to you the game," Sigh. The woman took off the watch just before Shuichi managed to grab it. Now the only option left is to follow their so-called game...