Shinichi and Ran walked down the street again, much less soaked and careful to stay away from the curb.
"Don't you think it's dangerous that we're walking down the street alone like this on this sort of night?" said Ran.
"Give it a rest. We're fine."
"But what if those men in black show up again?"
"I'm pretty sure they left before they could see what happened to us. They expected that drug to kill us dead. If we're seen, they won't recognize us or suspect a thing. But that still leaves…"
"What?"
"We still need to find out who they are."
"Are you implying that if we spot them again that you're gonna sneak off and follow them? You'll probably get killed for real if that happens."
"But we've gotta find out who they work for."
"Can't that wait until Agasa figures out a way to fix our situation? And can't we get the information secondhand from Otou-san anyway, once we explain this to him?"
"We've gotta take the chance if we see them, Ran."
"You're impossibly bold, Shinichi. Look where this already got us."
"I know. Your dad's going to kill me."
"Yeah.. What's he going to say when he sees us like this?"
"It won't matter in the end. It's just an initial reaction."
"Shinichi, I think reactions are important. A reaction can really tell something about someone's personality."
"Where did you read that prosaic nonsense?"
"I didn't read it, I made it up myself."
"That explains it, then."
"Rude, Shinichi."
They approached the detective agency. Ran walked up the stairs and grabbed her key out of her pocket, and reached for the keyhole. Shinichi stood patiently as she tried to figure it out. "I'm still sorry for this," said Shinichi.
"No, it was my fault too for bothering to follow you, else you wouldn't have been caught."
"But I was the one who got nosy in the first place."
"Okay, how about it was both of our faults?"
"Yes, but still mostly my fault."
Ran opened the door which knocked over a couple cans of beer on the floor. They were everywhere. Kogoro was laying on top of his work desk with his feet resting on his mini TV. His tie was around his head.
"Your father got freaking hammered," Shinichi said.
"Shh."
Ran picked up some of the cans and forced them down into the trash can. Then she turned to face Kogoro.
"Really, otou-san. This is your worst night in months."
Kogoro mumbled drunkenly.
"Down here."
Kogoro turned his head atop the desk. He drooled out of the side of his mouth while his eyes tried to focus on who was standing before him.
"Ran, do you know what time it is," he managed to say. "Go to bed already."
"No, do you see what this is?"
"What?"
"I'm a little kid, Otou-san. Do you see this?"
"Huh?" He moved one of his arms and knocked over another empty can of beer.
"He's too drunk," said Shinichi, who had taken to cleaning up the mess.
"Yeah, I might as well give up on this," said Ran.
"What are you gonna do?"
"He's going to flip if he wakes up in the morning and sees this. I'd rather stay at your house."
"We can't, the bad guys might have gone there to check if we were present. We'll have to go to Agasa's."
"Oh boy, just like those sleepovers we used to have."
"If we pretend we're not sixteen and aren't hiding from those men in black, it's almost exactly like that."
"Heh, yeah."
Ran got a couple of things from her room. Shinichi watched Kogoro flounder about on the desk as if his brain was working in slow motion.
"All right, let's go back to Agasa's. Should we phone ahead?" asked Ran, who had a backpack full of her stuff.
"He's expecting at least one of us to come back already."
"Okay, then." They headed out the door and Ran took her sweet time in locking the door behind them.
